Dax or Daxter?
by joeanne
Summary: AU. What if Daxter's dip in the Dark Eco had turned him into something else? Eventual het, slash, all that good stuff. Chapter 16 now up, sorry for the wait
1. Prologue: Breakout

This is my first attempt at a Jak and Daxter fanfic. I was inspired by some of the other writers here (coughjemisarddanddemyriecough) into taking a chance. This is all AU, quite obviously. Jak and Daxter belong to Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is intended or implied. I make no money from this.

I also would like to apologize in advance for any brain-exploding crack this idea may produce.

-----------

Dax or Daxter?

By joeanne

Prologue: Breakout

Darkness settled on the troubled Haven City. Less than a mile away, the constantly raging war between the citizens of the dying city and the Metalheads would come to another uneasy truce, as the Krimzon Guard would retreat for the night.

But none of this conflict mattered to the lone figure standing outside the halls of Haven City Prison. "Two years, buddy. Two years is a long, long time. I hope you're still there or this is really gonna suck." The young woman who spoke these words sighed and tightened the shoulder straps on her backpack.

She appeared to have survived to her late teens only by the skin of her buckteeth. To call her lithe would have been kind, skinny more accurate. Paired with a shock of red-orange hair and blue eyes she had an awkward, if somewhat endearing appearance.

She kicked the tops of her boots against the ground, reassured by the hollow thud of metal and slipped on her special gloves. After adjusting her goggles over her eyes, she was ready to go.

She launched herself at the wall and with a loud _thunk_ latched onto it. With determination in her eyes and her tongue sticking out of her mouth, she began to scale the wall. Muscles flexed underneath too tight skin as she hauled her body up the side of the wall. On and on she climbed until she reached her goal, an airshaft. The airshaft was large enough to crawl through but had a grate barring the entrance. Only four screws separated her from destiny.

Bracing one hand against the cool stone, she reached into her waistband for a screwdriver. It wasn't there. Frowning, she shifted and reached further into her pants. It was gone. "Damn it." She looked down. Yup, there it was, hundreds of feet below, glittering in the moonlight. "I hate you," she muttered. The screwdriver winked in the light again just to taunt her.

Her shoulders slumped. "Time for Plan B." She climbed up further along the wall until her upper body was above the grate. She planted her feet against the grate then pushed backwards. She extended her legs and kicked them into the grate. It budged slightly. Encouraged she did it again and again, each time the metal groaned at the impact. Finally, with one hard swing the grate fell off into the shaft.

"Oh yeah, I'm back in business! Was there ever a doubt? 'Course not, I'm the king, baby!" she cried. She scrambled into the airshaft, shoving the battered grate to the side. She settled into a sitting position and reached into her pants pocket. This time, what was supposed to be there was actually there, a map. The layout of the prison looked simple. In theory, she would be able to find her target in no time at all. "Right, nothing to it."

One hour later.

"Stupid, frigging outdated map." Bruised, sweaty and feeling not so fresh, she was one disgruntled wannabe hero. Apparently the "simple" layout was more deceptive than she had realized. In trying to make the map simple the mapmaker had neglected to mention things like furnaces, fans, random vats of glowing eco, the basic important things. Now, after an hour of stumbling around trying to avoid detection, she finally found a working platform. "Thank the Precursors," she muttered and climbed on. She pressed the "Up" button and waited.

------------------

The platform took her to a large room filled with scientific equipment. "Ding, ding. Third floor, body chains, roach food, torture devices," she said. She noticed that the room had a single occupant, someone strapped to a table. She walked over to him. Maybe this guy could help her find her missing friend. "Hey buddy, see any heroes around here. You know about so tall, blond, good-looking, not as good-looking as me—Holy Precursors! JAK!"

The young man on the table was unconscious, and although the two years of separation had changed him, he was undoubtedly her friend. "Jak, buddy I know it's been awhile but you've really let yourself go. The hair's way too long and that goatee, yikes." Jak did not respond.

The young woman's face twitched. "Come on Jakkie boy, this is no time for games. We've gotta get out of here."

Jak moaned. She smiled.

"Yeah, that's it. Come on, I've been looking for you two years. Don't quit on me now, Jak. Say something, anything just this once!"

Jak's eyes snapped open. "I'm going to kill Praxxis!"

The young woman backed off. "Okay, that's a new one."

Jak leaned forward, tugging at his restraints.

The redhead moved over to the strap of metal digging into Jak's left wrist. "Just let me figure out how to undo these security locks—"

A scream ripped itself from Jak's throat as his skin paled and his eyes darkened to blackest ebony. His body seemed to enlarge, become more powerful and muscular. His arms ripped through the locks as if they were tissue. He then reached down and ripped the locks off his legs as well.

The demon that was once Jak launched himself from the table at the young woman. She fell backwards and tried to scramble away. She held her hand out in a placating gesture. "Hey, easy now buddy, remember, it's me, your pal Daxter, remember?"

The redhead flashed the demon an uneasy smile. The smile fell as the monster loomed over her. She closed her eyes and covered her head, awaiting the final blow. It never came.

"Daxter?" she heard a soft voice whimper. She risked peeking out from between her arms.

Jak was back to normal.

Daxter grinned. "Yeah, told you I'd come for you, didn't I?'

Jak smiled and grabbed the younger woman by the arms. He hauled her to her feet. "Daxter!" he said again and plastered his mouth against hers.

Daxter's eyes bugged out in shock. Her hands flailed against the stronger male's chest but he wouldn't let go. Finally Jak pulled away and she could breathe again.

"Heh, heh, I know you've been without female company the past two years but let me remind you that I'm not staying this way," Daxter said, backing away. "So don't get used to the sugar, baby." She cocked her hips and slapped her butt for emphasis.

Jak quirked an eyebrow.

Daxter frowned and rolled her eyes. She slipped the backpack off her shoulders and tossed some clothes at Jak. "Just shut up and change, renegade. We've still gotta get out of here."

-----------

That's it for now. May be a one-shot or may be a series depending on laziness. Yes, the title is a reference to an Ed Wood movie. Hail to the nerd!


	2. Chapter 1: The Curse

Wow, thanks to everyone for their reviews, greatly appreciate it. As some of you could probably guess, some of the prison dialogue was a combination of original lines and words from a transcript of the game. Extra points if you guess which is which. :) I took some liberties with the beginning of the first game but considering that this is an AU, I don't think that will matter too much.

For those who thought the kiss a little strange, I'm hoping that over the course of the story (if I can pull this off) the evolution to that point will make sense. If not, I apologize to everyone and will beat myself with a wet noodle.

Jak and Daxter and all related characters belong to Naughty Dog. This is a work of fiction and no infringement of copyright is implied or intended.

--------

Dax or Daxter?

By joeanne

Chapter One: The Curse

It was a beautiful sunny day in Sandover. The sand on the beaches was pure and white, the jungle was lush and green and the village itself was peaceful and humble. And one teenager wondered why he wasn't at any of those places.

"Jak," the teenager whined. "Why are we going to Misty Island? Look there isn't a cloud in the sky except over that one island. Doesn't that tell you something?"

Jak, the other teenager, just shrugged and went back to steering the boat.

Daxter, the boat's second occupant slumped in his seat. He stared out at the inviting blue water. He got an idea. "Hey, if we went back home we could go swimming," Daxter offered. One of Jak's ears perked up. Daxter pressed on. "The water'll be nice and cool. It'll feel real good, we'll just turn around—"

Jak shook his head.

"Oh come on, there's nothing there, Jak. Samos said so," Daxter said.

Jak gave Daxter a "Like you ever listen to him" look.

"And you're gonna stop now?" Daxter asked.

Jak turned away. Daxter went back to his new favorite activity, sulking.

Several minutes passed and the silence was starting to drive Daxter nuts. "So when are we getting to this. . . stupid island?"

The harsh barren landscape loomed before them. Grays and browns blurred together in an uninviting tableau. And, as Daxter had predicted, the lone cloud in the sky blocked out the sun, casting everything into monochromatic shadows. Unfamiliar chittering noises reached Daxter's ears as the boat landed on the dark shore.

"Jak, I don't like this place."

Jak ignored the comment and hopped from the boat. He held out his arms wide and flexed his hands in a "come here" gesture.

Daxter scowled and decided to get off the boat his way. Unfortunately, his way involved miscalculating the jump off the boat, catching his foot on the end of the bow and stumbling into the water. Daxter came sputtering to the surface. "Can this day get any worse?"

It did.

There were Lurkers on Misty Island, lots of them and they all seemed to be involved in some sort of meeting. Two strange people, one male and one female, were addressing the assembly. Jak and Daxter couldn't hear everything they said but the things they did hear were not reassuring. Wanting to learn more, Jak pressed on. And Daxter, never wanting to be left alone, followed.

"Why are we still here? Shouldn't we be heading back, you know, out of danger? Heading away from the creepy people and their world domination plans?" Daxter asked. He was lagging far behind his friend, not wanting to go on but not wanting the other out of his sight.

Jak didn't reply. He looked around. They seemed to be in an aboveground containment area. In the middle of a large circular deck was a deep pool of some vile substance. Jak wrinkled his nose at the smell.

"Smells like your foot wraps in here," Daxter commented. Jak stuck out his tongue at his bucktoothed companion. Daxter grinned and rushed forward.

WHAP! Daxter's foot rammed into something hard and he tripped, falling flat on his face. Jak failed to hide his laughter. Daxter scowled and got to his feet.

"Ha, ha, very funny. What'd I trip on anyway?" Daxter picked the offending object off the ground. It was rectangular and just as dull and gray as the rest of the island. There were symbols carved into its sides, but they were hard to see. Daxter snorted. "Looks like some stupid Precursor junk. Old Samos is always babbling on and on about this stuff." He lost interest and tossed it back over his head. "Who were the Precursors? Why did they disappear? Why did they leave all their crap lying around?"

Jak stumbled forward, catching it before it hit the ground. As soon as it touched Jak's fingers, the object began to glow.

"How'd you do that?" Daxter asked, face open with amazement.

Jak shrugged, he was just as surprised.

THUD! One of the Lurkers from before jumped at them from out of nowhere.

"Jak!" Daxter screamed and huddled behind his friend.

The Lurker was huge, purple and ugly. The white skull perched on top of its head seemed to stare down at the teenagers with its empty sockets. The Lurker stalked closer and closer to the pair, drooling with hunger.

Daxter continued to cower, unable to move. Jak knew he had to do something. He steeled his determination and hurled the strange Precursor object at the creature. The creature blinked and exploded into tiny unidentifiable pieces.

The recoil forced Jak backwards into Daxter. While the blond warrior managed to regain his balance, his friend did not. Daxter tumbled down, arms flailing into the vat of Dark Eco below.

Jak panicked. He scrambled to the edge of the vat and peered down, face anxious for any sign of movement.

The gelatinous pool was still. Jak's eyes widened with fear. Suddenly, the eco started to shift and move. It curled in on itself and spat Daxter out.

Daxter went flying, head over heels, until finally slamming into the ground. Jak rushed over to his friend and hauled the redhead to his feet. "My skin's on fire, what the heck was that?"

Jak paused. Daxter's voice sounded different. Jak took several steps back and examined his friend. His jaw dropped open.

The changes had extended to more than Daxter's voice. The redhead had always been shorter than Jak but now Daxter was even smaller. The lanky assembly of bones and muscle had become rounder, more curved. But the thing that Jak found his eyes locked onto was Daxter's chest. No matter how hard he tried, his brain could not wrap around the concept of what lay underneath his friend's tunic.

"Hey, what happened to my voice? I sound so squeaky." Daxter rubbed his throat in annoyance. Daxter looked over and noticed Jak's gawking.

"What?" Daxter asked. The redhead followed the blond's gaze downward and saw what was so troubling. Under his shirt were two bumps. Two round bumps. Daxter's eyes widened. He screamed. "I'm not supposed to have those! I'm not supposed to have those!" He, or rather she, crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh, this is all your fault, Jak! If we hadn't come to this stupid island on this stupid day I wouldn't have fallen into that stupid Dark Eco and gotten these stupid boobs!"

Jak just continued to stare.

"Stop looking at me!" Daxter yelled and turned away. Her face flushed bright red, matching her hair. She panted with embarrassment, curling into herself. Her face screwed up into a frown.

Jak looked down at his feet with a guilty expression. He grabbed Daxter's shoulders and flipped his friend around. Daxter was still frowning. Jak tilted his head to the side and produced his best "Please don't stay mad at me, you're my best friend" look.

Even at his angriest, Daxter could never hold a grudge against that face for long and neither could his female self. Daxter exhaled in the most dramatic fashion she could before tossing Jak's hands off.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get back to Old Moss-head's and you can stare at your girlfriend for awhile. Then I can get back to normal," Daxter muttered.

--------

The duo entered the Green Sage's hut, keeping as quiet as possible. The effort was completely futile.

"Let me guess," Samos began, not even deigning to turn around at look at the newcomers. "You two went to Misty Island, the one place I've told you never to go and Daxter got into some sort of trouble."

Daxter raised her fist to make a rude gesture but Jak smacked it down.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing back there!" Samos yelled. He turned around. His reaction to Daxter's change was surprisingly low-key.

Samos shrugged. "Hmm, It could be worse."

"How could it be worse?!" Daxter screamed.

"You could be orange and fuzzy."

"Good point, old man."

The Green Sage swooped down from his high perch and hovered in front of Daxter. He tapped a finger against her buckteeth.

"I see that your Eco bath did nothing for that mouth of yours," Samos joked.

"Hey!"

Keira, the Sage's daughter, had been watching from the hut's entrance and decided that now would be a good time to step in.

"Can we fix Daxter?" Keira asked.

Samos scratched his whiskery chin. "I'm afraid not. But the Dark Eco Sage who lives to the North might have a solution. Gol and his sister have studied the secrets of Dark Eco for years."

Jak and Daxter grinned at each other. "Great, let's go!"

"But the portal to the North is malfunctioning, since none of the other Sages have bothered to keep theirs open. There is a road through the volcanoes, but the ground is too hot to walk upon," Samos said.

"But you could ride over it. I'm working on a heat shield for the zoomer. It's going to take about twenty Power Cells to get it going," Keira said.

"Great, so let me guess, we go down to the village and get Power Cells from them? And if they won't give them to us by asking nicely we've gotta do something for them," Daxter said.

Keira nodded. "You got it."

"This stinks." The redhead grumbled under her breath and kicked at the carnivorous plant by the door. Keira watched the forlorn figure for a moment before switching to Jak.

The blond warrior stood there looking completely at a loss. She knew that someone had to do something to cheer up Daxter. Keira looked to her father who was fiddling through some of his Precursor texts. He was going to be no help. It was up to her.

Keira walked over to the smaller woman and laid a companionable hand on her shoulder. "You know, you guys should probably rest up, you can start searching tomorrow. Meanwhile, I can show you the ropes on how to be a girl," Keira said.

Daxter frowned. "I don't need to learn anything, sweetheart. I'm not staying like this. I am going to be one hundred percent Grade-A male again before you know it."

"Daxter, we don't know how long it'll take Gol to find a cure," Keira said. "It could be days, weeks, even years."

For the first time real worry crossed Daxter's face. Her ears drooped. "Years?"

Keira sighed. "I hope not, but I'd rather teach you what I know than have to learn from Daddy or Jak."

Daxter picked up Keira's hand and dropped it. "No offense, Keira but I know all there is to know about babes."

This was not going well, Daxter was being stubborn over something she had no right to be stubborn about. The mechanic was going to have to switch tactics. "Think of it as a chance for a sleepover."

The redhead perked up with interest. "Really? With pillow fights and skimpy sleep shirts and everything?"

Keira nodded. "You with me?"

Daxter rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Sign me up!"

"First lesson: underwear. 'Cause you are going to need a little support. Then we'll talk biology because we don't want that sneaking up on you--" Keira started to make her way out of the hut, counting things on her fingers as she went.

Daxter grinned. "Hey Jak, I'm about to get the inside guide to ladies' underwear. Sure you don't want to come?" She growled, making a clawing motion with her hand.

Jak just shook his head.

The redhead just shrugged. "It's your loss. Wait for me, babycakes!" She ran after Keira.

Samos glanced over at Jak. "Don't worry, the novelty should wear off in a few days."

The Next Morning

"Pillow fights are completely overrated. I'm gonna be coughing feathers for days and her shirt didn't come off once," Daxter complained.

Jak rolled his eyes.

The terrible twosome was currently herding the farmer's Yakcows into a large pen. Jak thought that perhaps the farmer was tired. Daxter thought the farmer was too lazy to do it himself.

Jak was pushing against the last Yakcow but it was refusing to move. He went around to the animal's front to see if it was eating or occupied with some other distraction. But the creature just stood there, staring into the Forbidden Forest. The other animals were making low mewling noises and stomping their hooves.

"Jak?"

Jak turned to look at his friend. Daxter was looking into the woods, her face worried. "I think there's something out there."

Jak shook his head. Nothing ever came into the village.

The screeching from the direction of the trees made that last thought seem very, very silly. The actual monster made it seem even sillier.

The Lurker, like all Lurkers, was big. It dragged itself along by its massive forearms. It shook its shaggy head, stringy hair flying in all directions. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth and a lolling tongue.

Jak whipped his head around looking for Daxter, but his sidekick had disappeared.

The Lurker fixed its gaze on Jak and rushed forward with alarming speed.

He couldn't find Daxter, the Yakcows were starting to panic and a Lurker was headed right for him. This was not going to be Jak's day.

Suddenly, a treenut smashed into the Lurker's head. "Over here, buttface!"

The Lurker and Jak turned toward the sound. Daxter had managed to climb a tree and was perched in its upper branches. She was holding a large treenut. She hurled it at the Lurker, striking it right above the eye.

The creature howled.

Daxter ripped another nut off a low-hanging branch. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Great Precursors, you're ugly. I hope you got your looks from your Dad 'cause I hate to think your Mother looked like that!"

The Lurker bellowed and raced toward her. Jak took the opportunity to give the Yakcow one last shove and locked it in the pen with the others. He ran as fast as he could after the monster.

Daxter threw her treenut at the approaching Lurker, but it dodged out of the way. She continued to pick nuts and throw them as the Lurker got closer and closer. "Hurry up, Jak!"

The Lurker leapt onto the tree, the wood groaned. As it climbed, the tree sagged backward under the weight. Daxter watched like a frightened animal and tried to move higher into the branches. The creature was fast approaching and she was running out of tree. Daxter heard a whistling sound and looked down. Jak stood underneath her with his arms wide open.

The Lurker swiped at her with one massive paw. Daxter dodged, lost her balance and fell through the air right into Jak's arms. They landed in a tangled pile of limbs on the soft sand.

The sudden absence of Daxter's weight caused the tree to snap back and launch the Lurker high into the air. It flew out over the beach and into the deep water. They could see it splashing around, heading back toward Misty Island.

The duo sprang to their feet, big grins on their faces.

"Did you see that, Jak? That was beautiful! I was holding it off, brave intrepid hero that I am, and you helped too, of course," Daxter babbled. It was around that time that Daxter noticed the warm presence of Jak's arm curled around her waist. She coughed into her hand. "Excitement's over, big guy. You can let go now."

Jak looked at his offending hand and jerked it away as if burned. Daxter thought that kind of reaction was a little unnecessary.

Jak pointed between the Jungle and village. "Yeah, nothing ever comes this close to the village? Should we tell Old Green Stuff?" Daxter asked.

Jak nodded.

Daxter vocalized the plan that was on both of their minds. "Right, we'll tell him about the Lurker and then get some more of those Power Cells."

---------

It was night. The twosome sat on a hilltop overlooking the entire village. The stars twinkled high above them, casting their village in a peaceful light. Daxter stretched her arms and yawned. "I'm exhausted, Jak. We've talked to every single villager and done all of the stupid things they've asked and we still don't have enough Power Cells," she complained.

Jak shrugged. He had figured it would be that way. The village was too small for their needs. Jak reached over and grasped the back of Daxter's neck. She tensed for a moment before his fingers began to rhythmically squeeze the muscles there. A moment of so later, Daxter began to relax. Her eyes slid shut. "Yeah, that's nice."

They sat there together letting the sound of the surf wash over them. After a while Jak's fingers stopped moving. Daxter opened her eyes. "What'd you stop for?" she asked.

Jak removed his fingers and flexed them.

"Ah, started hurting?"

Jak nodded. He flashed her an enigmatic smile. Now Daxter prided herself on knowing her friend better than anyone and on being able to translate his gestures and facial expressions, but this was a new one. It was one that she didn't understand and wasn't sure she liked. So she did what any teenage boy would do when feeling uncomfortable, she shoved him.

Jak looked puzzled and then he smirked at her. Without warning he pounced and knocked Daxter flat on the ground. This started a wrestling match for the ages. Legs kicked, arms whirled around and grass flattened beneath their twisting bodies.

Moments later, it was over, Daxter pinned under Jak's greater strength. Daxter scowled, even though she knew that their wrestling matches always ended like this. "Okay, get off before I really have to hurt you," Daxter said. Jak just smiled, he knew there was no way Daxter was going anywhere. Daxter flailed, but the older boy wouldn't budge. She pouted. "Please move?" she asked, trying another tactic. Jak shook his head. "Ah come on, Jak! My arm's going numb!"

At that Jak deigned to sit up. Daxter crawled out from under him and propped herself up. "Hey Jak? We'll get me back to normal, right? The Fates can't deny the women of the world my sexiness forever, right?"

Jak nodded.

Daxter smiled. "You're a good pal, but don't let that go to your head."

And Jak never did.

---------

That will be all of Sandover for a while. I'll flashback to it periodically, but the meat of the story is in Haven and I'm an impatient lass. The title is starting to annoy me. I may change it but I'm not sure yet.


	3. Chapter 2: Detainment

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters belong to Naughty Dog. Except for the ones that I make up. No infringement of copyright is intended or implied in this fictional work. I'm trying a system where I don't post a new chapter until I have most of the next one written. We'll see how long that lasts. :)

Now it's time for the wildly AU chapter. Whee! This chapter has some violence, sexual situations and the dreaded Original Character(s).

-------

Chapter Two: Detainment

They had saved the world. It was amazing, nothing that either of them had ever imagined doing. Daxter had made jokes about their other accomplishments but this was something that could not be exaggerated. Jak was discovering the depth of his powers and Daxter had made a truly selfless sacrifice for the good of the world.

Things couldn't possibly get any better. And they didn't.

Since the citadel was no longer a danger, Keira and Samos had taken it upon themselves to study the Precursor gate left at the scene of the Great Battle. They had it transferred back to Samo's hut for easier access. After sending Jak and Daxter out to recover more Power Cells they had finally gotten it to work. Today was the first test.

The sky behind the portal ripped open bathing them all in brightly colored light.

"This seems like a really bad idea," Daxter said. Jak just gave her a reassuring smile.

"Oh, what could possibly go wrong?" Keira asked.

Which was exactly the worst possible thing to say when embarking on a new, very dangerous venture because the worst always tends to happen.

A booming voice tore through the tiny hut. "I HAVE FOUND YOU, BOY!" Hundreds of dark bat-like creatures flew out at them.

"How about that for starters?" Daxter yelled.

"We've got to do something!" Keira shouted over the din.

"You're the tinker person, you do something!" Daxter shouted.

Keira looked sheepish. "I don't know how it works, Daddy and I are still studying it!"

"Then start pushing buttons!" Daxter retorted. Jak, Daxter and Keira's fingers rushed over the buttons covering the Precursor gate. Samos tried to battle the dark creatures, but found that they were too many for him to handle. As the group was about to be overwhelmed someone, they never found out whom, pushed the right button.

The lights around the portal funneled into each other in a blazing column of light and suddenly the four of them disappeared. The vortex swirled around them as eddies of sound and light pushed from all sides. Their bodies flew around wily-nily and they became separated as they fell through space and time itself.

The ground was solid underneath Daxter's body. She turned her head and noticed that Jak had landed beside her. After a quick mental assessment that nothing was broken she nudged her companion. Luckily, he was also unhurt.

Jak and Daxter pushed themselves up to their feet and froze. A gigantic city loomed up before them. Dust and smog clogged the air and a million sounds assaulted their ears. Zoomers filled the skies and sometimes would even block out the sun. People, more than they had remembered seeing in their entire world, milled around them. And Keira and Samos were nowhere to be found.

"Well, we're not in Sandover anymore." Daxter clutched at Jak's sleeve. "So Jak, where are we?"

Jak just stared wide-eyed, his head shaking an "I don't know."

A large blue vehicle landed in front of them and a squad of men in strange uniforms piled out. Their appearance was completely foreign to the country-raised pair. The troops stalked toward the two heroes.

Jak shoved Daxter out of the way and prepared a fighting stance.

Daxter glared. "Hey, you're not the only one allowed to be macho around here," she complained. Jak shot her a pleading look and waved a hand for her to keep back.

One of the troops had different armor than the others, some that revealed a thick head of red hair. Jak guessed that he was their leader. The officer pointed at Jak.

"Leave the girl, the boy's the one that the Baron wants."

Jak rushed forward into a spinning attack but was subdued by the more experienced and heavier troops. Daxter took a step forward to help but found her way blocked by two armed guards. The troops wrestled Jak to the ground and cuffed his hands behind his back.

"We've been waiting for you," the leader said.

Jak stared up at the soldiers with disbelieving eyes.

"You can't do that to him, he didn't do anything! We've got rights, pal!" Daxter shouted.

The blond warrior was manhandled into the back of the vehicle. He looked back at Daxter over his shoulder, worry and confusion etched on his face.

Daxter grabbed the guards' gun barrels and pushed them down so she could see. "Hey! Where are you taking him? Don't worry, I'll get you out of this, Jak!"

The leader turned toward her. "Shut up. This doesn't concern you." The two redheads scowled at each other, although Daxter was really just scowling at a faceplate. The leader broke the stare and raked his eyes over her body. Daxter could detect the slightest hint of a smirk in his voice. "On second thought—"

Daxter bolted. Of all the crazy and selfish things she had ever done or would ever do in her life that was the one she would never forgive.

"You two, after her!" the leader ordered.

The two guards that had blocked her path were now in hot pursuit. Daxter dashed down the city street, pushing past people and zoomers. Nothing was familiar to her at all. None of the landmarks she used to rely on were left standing or if they were, she couldn't see them over the tall gray buildings. Luckily, her small size allowed her to maneuver through the crowd at a much faster rate of speed than the bulky guards.

Daxter ducked into the first alley she saw. She followed the narrow twists and turns, leaping over trash and other discarded debris. A low wall separated her from another alley. She scrambled up some boxes and went over the top, landing on the other side.

A flagpole caught her eye and remembering one of Jak's tricks, jumped up to grab it. While Jak had mastered using his momentum to swing his body around, Daxter hadn't. She dangled there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was wrong. She kicked her legs back and forth to build up a swing.

Daxter could hear the troops fast approaching and quickened her efforts. Finally, she managed a swing around the pole. At the top of the arc she let go, flying through the air. She stretched her hands out and managed to grasp the edge of an awning. Her biceps screamed in protest as she hauled herself onto the thin sheet. The second she was out of view, the guards rounded the corner.

"Where did she go?" one of the guards asked. His partner shrugged as their communicator beeped.

"Did you find her?" their leader asked.

"No, sir."

"Come back to base, we have what we want."

"Yes, sir." The two guards turned and left the alley.

Daxter watched them go and smirked. "Yeah, that's right. Run away you bums, no one can stop the Daxinater!" She did a heroic pose before flipping the bird to the retreating guards. "Yeah. Now to get out of here," she muttered. Daxter jumped and pulled herself onto the roof. She then dashed deeper into the strange city.

Meanwhile, behind a dusty window, four men watched as Daxter left.

One of them, a handsome blond, gave his companions an incredulous look. "The hell was that?"

Their leader, a grave older man with heavy muscles and an ugly scar over his right eye, actually grinned. "That is a future meal ticket," he explained.

--------

Night fell and Daxter still had no idea where to find Jak. No one had been interested in answering her questions or in even acknowledging her presence at all. At least that hadn't changed much from Sandover she thought. Fat drops of rain fell from the sky drenching her from head to toe. She moved out of the street and huddled under an awning, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"Okay, let's think this through. I'm alone in a strange city, I'm cold, I'm hungry and I can't find Jak, Keira or Samos. Yeah, I'm not doing so hot. Does it have to be so cold?" Daxter muttered.

A pretty older woman wearing a thick cloak approached the shaking girl. "Are you lost, dear?" she asked. .

Daxter's dejected look was all the answer the woman needed.

"Do you have a place to stay? Friends? Family?" the woman asked.

"I can't find them," Daxter admitted. "And I don't know where to start."

The woman nodded in understanding. "Perhaps some food and a place to stay might help."

Daxter smiled in hope. "That would be a lifesaver, lady."

"I'm Minc," the woman introduced herself, extending her hand.

"And I am the world famous Daxter." The redhead kissed the back of her savior's hand.

Minc chuckled. "That's an odd name for a girl."

"You don't know the half of it," Daxter said.

Minc's voice was soothing, like silk and honey, "Come in out of the cold, Miss Daxter." She took Daxter's hand and led her down the street to a building that looked like every other building in the slums. She knocked on the door and a peephole opened up. "It's me," she whispered. The peephole slid shut and a portly middle-aged woman opened the door.

The inside of the place was a complete contrast to the outside. The main room was a collection of pillows and rich fabrics. Gay colors splashed the walls and seemed to infuse the room with sensual light. Women of all ages, sizes and shapes sat around the room, eating and talking. Daxter had never seen so many women in one place before. Most of them were not beautiful or could even be called cute but that was a minor quibble. A tiny part of Daxter's brain wondered if she had died and gone to heaven.

At their entrance the other women turned to look at them. "This is Daxter," Minc introduced. "She will be staying with us." The other women whispered and giggled among themselves.

Minc gestured for Daxter to sit on one of the overstuffed pillows. She complied and felt her body sink deep into the fabric. The women swarmed around her, rubbing her with towels to dry her off and offering her food.

For the first time all night, Daxter was warm and comfortable. She shoveled the food in like there was no tomorrow. Upon reflection she would remember the food as being okay but nothing to write home about. At that moment though, it was the most delicious feast she had ever had.

A blonde with a tiny figure ran her hands through Daxter's drying hair. "A two-tone," she cooed. "That's rare. Is it natural?"

Daxter leered, enjoying the attention. "I'm all natural in the _au naturale_ if you get my drift."

The other women tittered with laughter.

"Oh, she's a spunky one," the middle-aged doorkeeper said.

Minc smiled. "You see we're all family here and we take care of each other. We'll give you food and shelter and in return you'll work for us."

"Work doing what?" Daxter asked. She figured that if the job wasn't that hard then she'd still be able to look for Jak and take care of herself.

"Well, you would perform services--" Minc started to explain.

Daxter raised an eyebrow. "Services? Like fixing zoomers and junk? I'm pretty good at a lot of things but keep me away from that techno stuff, especially any of that Precursor crap."

Minc shook her head. "Oh no, not those kinds of services." She cupped the back of Daxter's neck. "These kind." She pressed her lips against Daxter's in a slow kiss.

Fire raced up Daxter's back, causing her cheeks to flame. She had felt like this only once before but that was a memory she shoved aside before it could surface. She felt just the barest hint of tongue when Minc pulled away. Daxter was more than a little dazed. "That's a little odd but anything for you, babycakes."

Minc laughed. "The services aren't for me, they're for our clients," Minc explained.

Daxter felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. "Clients?" she said. "As in people who pay for . . .?" Daxter waved her hand around as a vague euphemism.

"Mostly men, but yes," Minc answered.

Daxter sprang to her feet, urging the ladies (of the night, as she now knew) aside. "Whoa, sorry ma'am ain't my bag. I'm going to have to turn you lovely ladies down," she said as she backed toward the door.

Minc stood up. "Please don't go! They'll just use you out there. At least in here you're safe."

Daxter sniggered. "You're kidding yourself if you actually think that lady. Thanks for the food, but I gotta go." She opened the door and dashed out into the rain.

"Wait! Don't leave!" she heard the pleading cries of Minc and the other women fade as she continued on into the night.

-------

Her belly was full and the rain had stopped, which was a plus but she was still cold, wet and tired. Daxter stumbled through the streets, exhaustion taking its toll. In a dark corner was a pile of pamphlets and newsletters. It was the most promising sight of the evening. Daxter went over to it and crawled inside, rearranging the paper around her body to keep warm. As she closed her eyes, a memory from a happier time rose unbidden.

It was a chilly night and Jak and Daxter were camping outside. In two days they would go to Misty Island and their lives would be changed forever, but they did not know this. For them, this was like any other camping night; an excuse to be without adult supervision for an evening.

Jak had just put out the fire and Daxter was organizing their blankets by tossing them into two messy piles. "That one's yours, Jak," Daxter said, pointing to a pile of blue blankets. Jak smiled in thanks, blue was his favorite color.

They each went to their respective pile and arranged themselves for maximum warmth. Daxter scowled. "Didn't Samos say it was supposed to be warm tonight?"

Jak chuckled and nodded his head.

"Great Sage my ass," Daxter muttered.

He heard another low chuckle from the blanket pile next to him.

After a few moments of quiet, Daxter could hear the steady sounding of breathing from behind him. Well, if Jak was asleep then that meant it should be safe for him to go to sleep. He reasoned that Jak wouldn't sleep if there were monsters around, not that Daxter couldn't take a Lurker or two, but better to be safe than sorry. Daxter closed his eyes and let his mind drift to the dreams and fancies of contented youth. As he felt himself start to drift away a solid arm draped itself across his middle. Before he could blink, Daxter found himself pulled flush against Jak's body.

The redhead twitched as Jak's exhaled breath bathed his ear. A hot tingle rushed up his spine and his face flushed. Suddenly, Daxter was a little too warm. He took his hands out of the blankets and pushed against Jak's forearm. Instead of loosening, the arm tightened, trapping him. Daxter squeaked in protest. "Sheesh Jak, I'm not your girlfriend," he muttered. Just when he thought he would have to resort to drastic measures, Jak turned his head and nestled it in the crook of Daxter's neck. That, Daxter found, was a lot more tolerable. But the second that Jak started to snore, Daxter determined that he would kick the older boy awake. With that thought firmly in mind, he fell asleep.

The next morning Jak acted as if nothing had happened. Daxter thought that Jak must have been embarrassed and promised himself to never mention it unless Jak brought it up. Daxter kept that promise, even when he found himself imprisoned in a female body and Jak repeated the pattern night after night along their journeys. And every morning Daxter would come up with a new explanation for the behavior.

Before she could reflect on any of this further, she fell asleep. As the dreams came, her memories faded and she would not think of those incidents again for a long time.

The next morning, a sharp kick to the right leg gave her a rude awakening. "Ow, watch it!" she complained. She squinted against the sun, trying to see who woke her up.

There were four men surrounding her. The one who kicked her was blond and handsome with a wicked smile. Standing next to him was the biggest man Daxter had ever seen. He was massive, muscles piled on muscles and his bald head seemed to shine in the sun. On blondie's left was a thin man with a potbelly and thick glasses. His blue hair was slicked back with some kind of grease and his oversized nose seemed almost rooted to his chin. The obvious leader of the group was a middle-aged man, gnarled and tough. His cropped black hair and the scar over his left eye did nothing to soften his appearance.

The big guy spoke first. "What's this? A little stinker in our territory?"

Daxter waved a hand in front of her face. "You don't smell so fresh yourself."

The big guy grabbed her by the front of her tunic. "Might want to shut your mouth, girly."

Daxter sneered, her feet dangling in the air. "Back off man, I don't want to have to hurt you." She drew her fist back as if to punch him.

The big man sniggered. "Right."

The blond nodded. "This is definitely the squirt from yesterday."

The redhead lowered her guard. "Yesterday?"

Their leader stepped forward. He made a gesture and the big guy lowered her back to the ground. "Yeah, my men and I watched you running from the Krimzon Guard, you've got some potential kid."

Daxter brushed herself off. "Krimzon Guard?"

Blondie laughed. "You were running from them and you don't know who they are?"

"I'm new in town," Daxter replied.

"They serve Baron Praxis. They're supposed to protect the city but they've never protected me from anything," the thin man complained.

"Uh-huh. And the city's name would be?"

Blondie muttered under his breath.

Daxter scowled and got up in Blondie's face. "Hey are you going to help me smartguy or I am I going to have to open up a can of whoopass—"

"Stop it, both of you!" the leader said. He pointed at the blond, "Hal, back off. And you—"

"Daxter."

"Daxter." The leader grasped her hand, pumping it up and down once. "We're the Pariah. Welcome to Haven City."

------------


	4. Chapter 3: The Pariah

A/N Once again, thank you to everyone for their reviews, especially Demyrie. One of the reasons I started writing this was that I was inspired by Demyrie and Keysha-chan's artwork, which is really fantastic and I recommend looking them up on deviantart. One of the other reasons is that I'm using this as a exercise in writing in prose since I've been working on screenplays/university essays for the past four years. (You can so tell since the last time I submitted something to this site was 2001.) That's enough of that.

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters are property of Naughty Dog. All original characters belong to me. No infringement of copyright is intended or inferred in this fictional work.

Warning: Major dialogue chapter ahead.

---------------------

Chapter 3: The Pariah

BAM! Daxter struck the steel cage wall and fell forward onto the ground. She blinked back the throbbing pain in her head as she stared up at her attacker. "How the hell did I get into this mess?" she muttered.

After her introduction to the Pariah, Daxter had been taken to their headquarters located in the heart of the slums. The Pariah was a gang of thieves with only four members: their leader Turk, the blond man Hal, Stif the thin man and Gurn the behemoth that Daxter was currently fighting. Turk explained that he wanted Daxter to join their gang but to prove her worth she would have to fight Gurn.

Her answer was characteristic. "What? You think I'm crazy?"

The men responded by throwing her into the cage and locking her in with the mammoth fighter. Daxter faced Gurn and shouted, "Fine, you want a piece of me? Give me your best shot!"

Which was why she was now on the other side of the room, lying on the ground with an aching body. Daxter staggered upward as her opponent sauntered toward her. When Gurn came into grappling range, Daxter dropped to the floor and slide out between his legs. She rolled to her feet and dashed to the other end of the cage.

When she reached the end Daxter hooked her fingers into the mesh lining the cage and began to climb. She could hear the Pariah members hooting and cheering as she reached the top. The top was flush with the ceiling so she couldn't get out that way but she was still out of Gurn's range. She inched her way to the side, hoping to find a weak spot somewhere else in the cage.

"Get down here!" Gurn yelled.

Daxter gave him the one-fingered salute. "In your dreams, lard ass." Gurn roared and rushed the cage. He grabbed the wall with both hands and shook it as hard as he could.

Daxter held on for dear life as the metal bucked and groaned beneath her. Between Daxter's weight and Gurn's thrashing, the strain on the cage wall joints was too much and it snapped. The wall crashed to the ground, taking Daxter with it. She landed badly and jammed her elbow. The tips of her buckteeth sliced the tender skin of her lower lip, staining it red. She spat the blood out onto the concrete floor.

"Ew, that's really gross," Stif complained, taking a step back.

Before Daxter could move a meaty hand grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground. Her feet kicked the air not connecting with anything. The hand around her throat squeezed and Daxter winced, afraid of what was coming.

"That's enough," Turk ordered, raising his hand.

Daxter sighed in relief. She was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. She panted and nursed her sore arm. "That was not a fair fight," she complained. "If I was about five times bigger—"

"You made it, I'm impressed," Turk said.

Daxter snorted and spat more blood on the floor. "Impressed with what? The way I get the crap kicked out of me?"

"It's okay kid, we don't need another bruiser; we've already got one." Turk pointed at the smiling Gurn.

"Then what the hell was all of that for?" she screamed.

"I saw your potential, but I had to be sure. You've got what we want: speed, flexibility and cowardice," Turk said.

"Hey!"

He ignored her protest. "We don't need any heroes. We want someone who'll get the job done and get the hell out."

Feeling battered on all sides Daxter said, "I never even said I wanted to join your club." She pressed a finger against her lip and felt better when it came back dry. She headed toward the door. "I've got a friend missing out there and I don't have time for this crap!"

"You're looking for someone?" Stif asked.

Daxter paused and snapped at him. "Yeah, that's what I said four-eyes."

Stif bristled at the comment. "Well, you see, we have access to information networks all over the city. We might be able to find your friend."

The sulk left Daxter's body as she listened. Turk noticed an opportunity and took it. "But information isn't free," the leader explained.

Daxter was starting to think that nothing was free anymore. "So if I work for you guys then you'll find out where Jak is?" Daxter asked.

"We'll do the best we—" Stif was interrupted by swat to the back of the head. "Ow!"

"We'll find your friend, squirt," Hal finished.

"Although I have many skills, I don't know jack about stealing," Daxter said.

Turk laid a hand on her shoulder. "We'll teach you, but to be an official member you've got to have a codename."

Daxter smirked. "Codename, huh? It should be something cool like Orange Lightning or Crusher," Daxter said.

"How about Ottsel?" Stif suggested.

The other members of Pariah and Daxter stared at him. "What the hell is an ottsel?" Turk asked.

"It's a small rodent, very fast and sneaky. Quite rare," Stif explained. "I figured that because of her speed—"

"Why don't we just call her Rat?" Hal said.

Daxter stepped forward, mouth opening wide when Turk stepped in. "Ottsel it is then. Get cleaned up, kid, we've got a lot of ground to cover."

--------

After a hot shower and a couple of strategically placed bandages, Daxter felt a hell of a lot better. She sat in the "war room," a glorified name for a folding table and a couple of chairs. Of course, no war room was complete without the requisite map of the city on the wall.

Turk placed a gun on the table, gracing the top was a small red module. "This is a scatter gun. This is your new friend."

Daxter eyed the weapon with both trepidation and interest. "You're not expecting me to shoot anyone with that thing?"

"Only as a last resort. The scatter gun is pretty weak, it will knock out a grown man but it would take multiple hits to kill anyone," Turk explained.

Daxter picked up the gun, feeling its weight. She messed around with it, trying to get a comfortable grip on it. "Do the job and get the hell out. Right?" she asked, pointing the gun at Turk.

The older man looked alarmed for a moment and grabbed the gun barrel, yanking it out of Daxter's hands. He set it back on the tabletop. "Right. It's our policy not to waste lives. There are more dangerous things than Krimzon Guards outside of the city. The Baron and the Underground can squabble all they want, but the Metalheads are the real problem."

Daxter frowned. "Metalhead? What's a Metalhead?"

"Monsters. We don't know where they came from but we know what they want, to kill us all," Turk said, slamming his fist down. "We don't have the men, the firepower, or the guts to stand up to them, so we don't kill anyone who will."

"You weren't kidding when you said you didn't want any heroes," Daxter joked.

"Once you see a Metalhead you'll understand why," Turk said. He picked up the scattergun and handed it back to Daxter, barrel first. "Hal will take you on the gun range and teach you how to use that. Remember, it is not a toy, do exactly what Hal tells you, got it?" Daxter nodded. "Good. When you get back, I'll teach you some of the basics," Turk said.

Two Hours Later

Her shoulder ached and her trigger finger felt like it was ready to fall off but Daxter had never felt so powerful. Shards of cardboard rained down as she shredded through them with each pulsing blast. She took a few steps forward and took out another row of paper mimics.

Hal leaned against the wall, watching the show. He clapped his hands in approval. "You're doing pretty good. Sure you haven't handled a gun before?"

"You kidding?" BOOM! More cardboard met its doom. "I'm doing great! We didn't have anything like these babies back home," Daxter said.

"What did you use? Your fists?"

"Yup. Hand to hand combat. We got pretty good at it too," Daxter said, reloading the gun just as Hal had taught her.

"We?" Hal asked.

"Jak and me. I did most of the work, he was my backup," Daxter said.

Remembering Daxter's recent fight, Hal had to laugh. "What were you fighting? Crocodogs?"

Annoyed, Daxter lowered the gun and planted a hand on her hip. "Lurkers," she said, hoping that would shut him up.

"Lurkers have been slaves for over a hundred years, they're not much of a threat, Rat," Hal said.

Daxter scowled. "You people are nuts. Back home—" Daxter stopped. In one of her rare moments of insight, she realized that maybe mentioning home was not the best idea.

"What about home?" Daxter remained silent. Hal sighed. "I figured that something happened to you, you don't fit in here."

Daxter opened her mouth to protest.

Hal raised a silencing hand. "No, I don't want to know and I think it's better if no one else does. Got it?"

She nodded.

Hal was pleased. "Good, but I think you need a better understanding of what the city's up against. I'm going to show you a Metalhead."

They made their way through the city to the pumping station. Along the way, Hal taught Daxter how to steal her first zoomer. It had been sitting unattended in the middle of the street. Hal had shown her the basics of hotwiring and within moments they were flying through the air. Hal sat behind Daxter on the small seat and guided her hands over the controls. It was exhilarating to be able to command the humming machine rather than be at another driver's mercy.

Back in Sandover, Jak had always been the driver and it had been up to Daxter to clutch the older boy's waist as tightly as he could so he wouldn't fall off. Keira never wanted Daxter near her inventions and although Daxter had repeatedly asked Jak to teach him how to drive, Jak never did. Jak would promise in his own mute way but something would always come up.

"We're here," Hal said. He showed Daxter how to stop the machine and they dismounted. They grabbed hold of their guns and headed for the massive door. Hal punched in a code and the lock hissed open. He stepped aside and gestured for Daxter to walk ahead.

For the first time, Daxter was outside the walls of Haven City. The pumping station itself was a giant machine with platforms set all around it. Small streams of water crisscrossed the ground. Daxter started forward when Hal grabbed her arm. "Don't go too far, I just want you to have a look at 'em."

"There's nothing—" Hal slapped a hand over her mouth and pressed a finger to his lips.

Daxter nodded and he released her. He waved his hand in a "follow me" gesture and jumped onto one of the platforms. Daxter followed him, trying to stay as quiet as possible. As they crested another platform, Hal pointed to an area down below. Daxter turned her gaze in that direction and gulped.

The Metalheads were strange armored bug-like creatures. Their black shells seemed to absorb the light around them while the yellow orbs protruding from their bodies gave off an eerie glow. Daxter could literally feel the skin on the back of her neck crawl.

"Those things make Lurkers look like baby Flut-Fluts," Daxter whispered.

Having no idea what a Flut-Flut was, Hal chose not to comment. He grabbed Daxter's shoulder and jerked his head toward the door. "Let's go. Scatterguns won't do much good against Metalheads that size."

They crawled their way back down to the door in silence. Hal's fingers rushed over the electronic lock. The anticipated noise never came. Hal frowned in puzzlement.

"What's wrong?" Daxter asked.

"The code's not working," Hal said.

Daxter panicked. "It let us in!"

"I know, I know!" Hal picked up his communicator and spoke into it. "Stif, we got a problem. The code to the pumping station won't let us out."

Stif's voice faded in and out in crackles and pops through the old machine. "What? That's odd."

"No kidding. Can you find us another one?" Hal asked.

"It's going to take some time," Stif said.

Time was what they didn't have. Two Metalheads scuttled across the dusty terrain their claws raised to attack.

Hal fired his scattergun, the blast knocked the Metalheads back for a moment but they quickly regained their feet. "It won't hold them!" Hal shouted, his finger pressing on the trigger.

"Not good, not good!" Daxter shouted.

"Don't panic," Hal said, backing up against the door.

Daxter shot him an incredulous look. "Like hell I won't panic!" A Metalhead came too close and she fired right into its face. The creature reared back with an angry screech. Daxter switched her grip on the gun, wielding it like a bat.

She and Jak had been in trouble like this once before. They were in the Forbidden Jungle looking for Uncle's picnic basket. What Uncle was doing picnicking in the Forbidden Jungle was beyond Daxter but he had promised them a Power Cell if they could retrieve it. Daxter also wondered why Jak's Uncle couldn't just give his nephew a Power Cell, but that was a question never to be answered.

Lurkers had surrounded the twosome as they crested a ridge. Jak's fists and feet smashed into the Lurkers sending them flying. Daxter watched the action, amazed at her friend's fighting prowess. She would jab the air with her fists whenever Jak scored a hit. Suddenly, a claw lashed out slashing Jak across the chest. He fell back. The Lurker lurched toward the blond teen, drool dripping from its open maw.

Jak was too dazed to respond to the threat. Fear filled Daxter's chest. She picked a log up off the ground and raced toward the Lurker. As the Lurker was about to attack, Daxter struck.

The rotten wood shattered against the Lurker's skull. It dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Jak shook his head clear and beamed up at Daxter. The redhead felt heat rise in her face. "Hey no big deal, Jak," she said, waving it off.

Now she was in a similar situation and a gun was a hell of a lot harder than a log.

BAM! The gun smashed into the Metalhead's midsection. The creature toppled onto its back, legs kicking in the air.

Daxter crowed in triumph and shot Hal a thumb's up. The blond stared at her for a second before smashing the butt of his gun into the other approaching Metalhead.

"Are you crazy?" he asked.

Daxter grinned. "Crazy like a fox." She fired a couple of shots at the Metalhead, driving it further back.

Hal heard the distinct hiss of the lock. He grabbed Daxter and slammed her against the wall. A horde of Krimzon Guard piled out of the door with guns blazing. The Metalheads fell dead as the bullets tore through their exoskeletons. Their anguished squealing filled the air. Daxter shuddered in horror.

"That it?" one of the Guards asked.

"Negative, there's more further in and we need to find out who owns that zoomer outside," another said.

Hal seized Daxter's hand and dragged her out of the door, sneaking past the soldiers.

"Hey!" one of the Krimzon Guards called after them.

Hal and Daxter ran. Hal reached the zoomer first and spurred it to life. He reached a hand out and yanked Daxter onto the seat behind him. They sped away into the streets of Haven City, Daxter clutching Hal for dear life. The Krimzon Guards did not bother to give chase; they had more important things to take care of.

When the pumping station was far enough away, Hal asked, "So you see what the big deal with Metalheads is?"

"Yeah, I got it," Daxter said, the adrenaline was seeping out of her system leaving her tired and homesick. She pressed her face against Hal's back and wished, not for the last time, that he were Jak.

Over the next several months, Daxter learned more than she had ever wanted to know about the art of thievery. She specialized in breaking and entering, particularly the places that required some climbing to get into. She trained her fingers to be nimble and quick as she picked locks and disabled alarm systems. Her muscles became lean and strong, a result of almost constant exercise. And her baby fat disappeared except for the stubborn roundness in her cheeks.

Her days were occupied with the jobs and her nights were filled with memories of Jak. Every day she would pass Stif's office and ask, "Stify baby, you heard anything about Jak?"

And his answer was always the same. "Sorry Ottsel, nothing yet."

Days turned into weeks and weeks stretched into months and still they hadn't heard anything. Daxter tried to keep faith that the Pariah's contacts would be able to give her something but it was getting frustrating. Information on anyone inside the prison was hard to come by and for some reason the boy named Jak was a closely held secret. But one morning, almost a year after Jak had been captured, Stif finally received word.

He raced from his tiny communications room into the headquarters' main foyer. It was empty. "Turk?" he called out, looking around.

"What is it, Stif?" the older man asked, responding to the call.

"I've got news for Ottsel," Stif said.

"You got word about her friend?" Turk asked.

The thin man nodded. "Yeah, but I don't understand it."

Just then the front door opened revealing the redhead in question and Hal, deep in conversation.

Hal shot Daxter an incredulous look, "Wait, you're telling me that your friend--"

"Best friend," she clarified.

"Camped out with you sleeping like this?" Hal stood behind Daxter, wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her flush against his body.

"Yeah, but if you move your hand any I'm gonna slap you," she said.

Hal pulled away. "Multiple times," he clarified.

Daxter nodded.

"And you never suspected anything?" he asked, throwing his pack to the floor.

Daxter was confused. "Suspected what?"

Hal laughed. "You are so in denial, Rat."

"Denial about what? Are you implying something?" Daxter asked. "'Cause if you're trying to say—"

"Ottsel!" Turk called. "We've got news about your friend."

Daxter broke away from Hal and started to babble. "Really? They released him, right? I mean, Jak's a freaking saint; he's never done anything wrong. Hell, he saved the world once."

"I thought you saved the world?" Hal interrupted, his voice filled with amusement.

"I did, so did Jak. It was a teamwork thing," Daxter explained.

Before she could rant any further, Stif interrupted, "Your friend Jak's still in the Baron's custody. He's been put into something called the Dark Eco Warrior Program. Details are sketchy, but--"

"Wait a minute, Dark Eco Warrior Program?" Daxter asked. "Are you kidding me?"

"I don't understand—" Stif said.

But Daxter was on a roll. "Who would be stupid enough to work with Dark Eco? That's like sticking a scattergun against your head and pulling the trigger just to see what'll do. It doesn't make sense. Hell, look what it did to me!"

The four men in the room looked at each other with puzzled expressions. "Did what?" Gurn asked.

Daxter groaned. "Never mind. The point is, your information is wrong. They lied to you."

Stif was not a strong man but he was proud of what he did. "My sources are very reliable," he defended.

Anger tinted Daxter's voice, "These the same sources that told us about the Eco storage unit that almost got Gurn killed?"

Stif's face flamed. "That was four months ago—"

Turk held up his hands. "Stop it, you're both acting like children."

Daxter shook her head. "No, we had a good run guys, but I quit."

Turk frowned. "You can't quit."

"Sure I can," Daxter said, planting her hands on her hips. "I worked with you bozos for an entire year and the first time I hear about Jak it's bullshit. I did it your way now I'll find Jak on my own."

She left that night without another word, taking her meager belongings with her. The knot in her stomach twisted as she thought about how long it had been since she had seen Jak and how long it had been since she was normal. Daxter wiped away the moisture that tickled her eyes. She looked up at the dark hanging moon. "Don't worry, Jak. I'm not giving up, not if it takes me fifty more years to find you."

------------

I'm trying to keep to the unspoken rules of being a sidekick that the sidekick must either have abilities that complement the hero's or that if they have the same abilities they cannot do them as well as the hero. I hope that I am succeeding.

Also, the next chapter shall be known as the "Bastard Erol" chapter. Bwahahaha!


	5. Chapter 4: Violation

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters, situations and places are property of Naughty Dog. Original characters are mine.

I hated having to write this chapter but it's necessary for future plot and blah blah. This chapter is rated R for suggested sexual themes, consent issues, language and slight grossness. This shall be known as the "Bastard Erol" and semicolon chapter.

---------

Chapter Four: Violation

Erol was furious. It had been a year since they had brought the boy in. Praxis had been told of the boy's tolerance for Eco and when he would arrive in the city. It had been Erol's job to bring him in. The Krimzon Guard leader did not question where the Baron had gotten his information, nor did he really care. They had pumped enough Dark Eco through Jak's body to kill a normal man but the boy had shown no change.

Then two days ago the boy had spoken for the first time. It was a single word: stop.

It was then that Erol knew they had made progress. During the initial physical examination the doctors had noted some damage to the boy's vocal cords that rendered him mute. The fact that he could now speak had to be a result of the Dark Eco fusing with his system, Erol was sure of it.

But now the boy was somehow altering the treatment by sheer force of will. Erol didn't think that Jak would be able to hold out for very long but the delay was making the Baron anxious. The Metalheads and the Underground were getting bolder and the Krimzon Guard was run ragged from fighting a two-way front. Having a Dark Warrior would tip the scales permanently in the Baron's favor but it was just taking so much time.

Erol needed to break the boy, make him realize the futility of resistance. Physical torture could only go so far, Jak had to remain healthy for the Dark Eco treatments, but psychological torture could still be used; the boy's sanity wasn't required. The problem was that since the boy had been silent for a year, Erol didn't know anything about him. And even now that the boy had been granted the ability to speak, he still refused to.

The frustration was taking its toll on Erol, making him even more irritable. He snapped at the other Krimzon Guards, sending them on dangerous assignments that could easily get them killed and he had physically attacked one of his scientists. That the Baron had noticed.

He had given Erol two choices: to take the night off and rest or to step down permanently from the program. Erol had chosen the former.

As Erol left the prison compound he wondered what he would do with himself. He had not had time to himself in as long as he could remember. Erol actually felt uncomfortable in civilian clothes; they were unnatural to him. It wouldn't do to walk around town in his uniform, though; it wasn't conducive to _relaxing_.

Baron Praxis had granted his captain the night off and Erol was on the prowl.

There were many bars and taverns in the slums of Haven City but this one looked slightly cleaner than most. Erol stepped in, watching his step just in case someone had decided to be sick on the floor. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer. As he waited, he scanned the place for anyone interesting. Most everyone was either coupled or in a larger group, thus being inaccessible. Erol scowled. This wasn't going to be quite as easy as he had hoped. He decided to wait until he finished his beer. If he didn't find a prospect by then he would leave.

People flowed in and out of the bar, but as Erol's drink got lower and lower he was becoming bored with every new face. He sucked down the final drop and took one last look around.

There was a girl at the end of the bar; she looked like an easy mark. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, worn for far too long without any mending. A pair of goggles held her crazy red-orange hair back away from her face. She wasn't pretty but she was cute in an awkward way. She was already halfway drunk so it wouldn't take much to coax her into his bed. And as a bonus, she looked like the bitch that had been with Jak on the day they took him into custody.

"I wasted a year on those guys!" she shouted at the bartender.

The bartender glared. "Keep your voice down."

The girl nodded. "A whole freaking year," she whispered. She looked at her drink and was disappointed to find it was empty.

Erol decided to make his move. He slid into the seat next to her, giving her his most charming smile.

"Hello," he said.

"Stop smiling like that, you're giving me the creeps," the girl said, shuddering.

Erol did as she requested. That had not gone as well as he had hoped. He decided to try another tactic, "Sorry. I just saw you sitting over here and thought you looked lonely."

The girl smirked, shaking her glass. "My drink's looking a little lonely if you know what I mean."

Erol took the hint and ordered her another beverage, putting it on his tab. "Thanks, buddy," the girl said.

"Not a problem," Erol said. When the bartender returned, Erol grabbed the drink from him and set it in front of the girl. She took it and downed it in one gulp. Crimson burst onto her cheeks and she coughed a little.

"Oh, that burns," she sniggered. "You know it's good when it can strip paint!"

Erol smiled, a few more like that and she would be knocked out for the evening.

The girl turned to him and picked up his hand. "The name's Daxter," the girl said, pumping it up and down a few times.

Odd name, Erol thought. "Erol."

"Erol, nice name, it's all masculine and everything," Daxter muttered. She dropped his hand and rubbed her forehead. "Yeesh, it's dark in here, can't see a damn thing."

"It helps with hangovers," Erol said.

Daxter nodded. "Ah, preventative measures. Maybe they should have a 'Don't drink so much you puke' sign."

"I think you're already past that point," Erol said.

"What are you talking about? I can drink you under the table any day of the week, buddy."

Erol shook his head, choosing not to comment.

Daxter stared at him for a moment. She reached out a hand and cupped Erol's face, her thumb tracing the markings. He noted that her fingers had some calluses on them. She wasn't quite as soft as she looked. "You've got some nice tattoos, real tough."

"They're standard issue," Erol said.

"What are you in some kind of cult or something?" she asked.

Erol smiled. "Or something."

Daxter sighed, resting her cheek on her hand. "I always wanted a cult. You know, ordering people around all day, a harem of beautiful women catering to your every whim. Feeding you grapes and chocolate—"

"Wouldn't you rather have men?" Erol asked.

Daxter scoffed. "Nah, they don't look as good in sparkly pants."

Erol was growing uncomfortable with this thread of conversation. Unfortunately, he asked the worst question possible, "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

And she did. "I grew up in this village you know, real quiet and everything. I used to think that quiet was a bad thing until I came here and that changed my mind real fast—"

Erol was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. He tuned out her words and just let her voice wash over him.

"I was with this group for a while called the Pariah, bunch of bums all of 'em. I mean, I liked them and all but you know. The only reason I even stayed with them was because they said that they could find my buddy for me. And what do they give me after a year, a whole YEAR? 'Oh, he's in this Dark Eco Warrior Program thing.'"

That caught Erol's attention. People outside of the Krimzon Guard knew about the program? He needed to find out where the information leak was and fast.

The girl was still babbling, "And I said, 'They're lying.' And he said, 'No, I'm not.' And I said, 'Uh-huh.' And he said, 'Nah-uh.'"

Erol interrupted, knowing that this could go on all night. "Who was this again?"

Daxter gave him a drunken "weren't you paying attention" glare. "The Pariah. Stif promised they could find my friend for me, but no they had to get their info from a bunch of lying—"

"Why did you think he was lying?" Erol asked.

The girl snorted. "'Cause who the hell would be stupid enough to mess with Dark Eco? I mean, look what it did to me!"

Erol was puzzled. "It gave you buckteeth?"

Daxter scowled. "Ha ha, screw you, pal." She wobbled to her feet.

Erol grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to her seat. "Wait. You said something about having a friend."

"Yeah, my buddy Jak, my best friend in the whole world. I have no idea why the hell they took him away. Real sweet and he's got this ass that you can bounce a quarter off of and his smile--"

Erol felt everything slide into place. Oh this was just too perfect. This girl actually was the snarling redhead who had confronted him the year before. At the time, he had just wanted to snap her neck, now he had better plans.

"—He was the only person who would ever listen to me, probably because he couldn't talk."

Erol placed a finger against her lips. "Why don't you have another drink?" he asked.

Daxter gave him a sloppy grin. "Sure, sounds like fun."

He ordered another drink and watched with satisfaction as Daxter sucked it down. She started to talk about Jak again, her gestures slow and uncoordinated as if her limbs were too heavy for her body. Erol didn't hear most of what she said. He just responded in the right places to look as if he was really listening. Finally, during one jerking hand movement, she fell off the stool.

"Let's go outside, you need some air," Erol said. Daxter just gave him a sleepy nod.

Erol wrapped an arm around her small waist. Daxter staggered against him, trying to maintain balance. "I'm okay, I'm okay."

The Captain led her through the streets to a hotel. It satisfied Erol's few requirements it was quiet, out of the way and clean. He paid the manager and dragged the drunken girl up to a rented room.

Her soft body meshed against him as she kept talking. Although the physical sensation of her curves was pleasant the constant chatter irritated him. Erol wondered if this girl ever shut up.

Once inside, he propped her up against the wall and shut the door.

Daxter watched him with bleary eyes. "You know, I'm real thankful for this 'cause I need to sleep—"

Erol pressed himself against her, his lips closing over hers. Daxter's fists flailed against his shoulder, trying to push him away. His nudged his leg forward, nestling it between her thighs. Heat seared her lower body.

"What?" she gasped.

Daxter didn't remember much after that.

---------

The sun was just crawling up over the horizon when Erol opened his eyes. He was still in the hotel room and the girl lay tangled in the sheets next to him. She was sleeping on her stomach with her head buried in the pillow. In between soft breaths he could hear her muttering about home.

He struggled to remember her name. It started with a D—Diane, Deirde, Danielle, Daxter that was it. Daxter had been inexperienced but her mewling and whimpering had done wonders for his arousal. She was funny looking but there was no denying the appeal of that smooth expanse of back. He set himself to memorizing the curves of her body. He wanted to describe every detail to the boy. And if description wasn't enough—

Erol took a knife out of his pants. He gripped a small section of hair right at the back of the neck and sliced it off. The lock was soft and smelled like the girl. He tied the hair together and put it in his pocket. He resisted the urge for one last kiss to get her smell on his breath. He thought that might be overkill.

He pulled his clothes on, wanting to be gone before she awoke. As he headed for the door he thought of one last thing. Erol scribbled a note on the hotel stationary and left it on the pillow where he slept. He then shut the door and left.

When he returned to work that morning he felt better than he had in years. Perhaps he would even start racing again.

Erol grinned as he entered the testing lab.

The Krimzon Guards dragged the boy out of his cell and strapped him to the restraint chair. The boy's green and blond hair had grown long during his time in the prison but his face remained as clean as a baby's. Erol noted that the boy smelled fresh, he had been showered the previous night.

Erol waved the other scientists and Guards out of the room. He wanted some alone time with the boy.

"Hello Jak, would you believe that I ran into an old friend of yours?" Erol said.

The boy did not respond he simply stared at the ceiling.

"She was with you when we took you in, her name was Daxter, if I remember."

The boy made an almost imperceptible twitch at the name. A less trained eye would have missed it completely, but The Captain was not an officer for nothing.

Erol felt a small thrill of victory. "Yeah, we had a lot of fun last night. Found her at a bar, trashed out of her mind. It didn't take much to get her into bed. She's still looking for you, you know."

Jak just glared at the Krimzon Guard Captain.

Erol smirked. "Don't believe me?" Erol pulled the lock of hair from his pocket. "As you know red hair is common in Haven City but orange and red, that's unusual—"

"Don't touch her!" Jak yelled.

"It's a little late for that," Erol said. He leaned forward, his mouth almost touching Jak's ear. "When she came, she screamed your name."

Jak roared and jerked at his restraints, his eyes filled with fury. "I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"I'll make you a deal, Jak. If you stop resisting the treatments I won't make any more visits to your little girlfriend, although that might be tough. She feels so good from the inside and her skin is to die for," Erol said.

Jak panted in frustration, his arms aching to break the smirking Krimzon Guard's face.

Erol just stood back and watched. So many mixed emotions, it was hard to tell what was going on in the boy's mind. Several moments passed. "Well, Eco Freak?"

When the reply came, it was almost too soft to hear. "Do you promise not to hurt her anymore?"

Erol leered. "Not one hair on her little head," he said.

Jak nodded, his head drooped against his chest.

Erol pressed the intercom button. "Doctors, you may come in. The subject is willing to resume testing," he said. Erol turned to Jak. "If you're good Jak, maybe I'll give you some of the details."

Jak ignored the taunt and stared at the tattered clothes covering his chest. He silently swore that if Erol ever touched Daxter again he would rip the man limb from limb. A sneer spread across Jak's lips. Erol never saw the expression but if he had he would have been very frightened indeed.

------------

Daxter woke with a pounding headache and an odd empty feeling between her legs. She shifted and winced. For some reason her thighs were stuck together. She groaned and pulled them apart. "What did I do last night?" she muttered. She lifted the sheet. Blood and something white was caked to the junction between her groin and her legs.

Daxter shot up to a sitting position and grabbed her throbbing head. Her stomach rolled at the sudden moment. "What the hell happened to me?" she asked the empty room. Panic flooded her senses; she couldn't remember anything. There was a man and he took her to the room, but what happened after that? Okay, she thought, back up. She had spent the night alone in a room with a man and she was naked—she stopped at the realization. Bile rose up in her throat. She rushed to the trashcan and emptied her stomach contents into the unfortunate receptacle.

She sat back on the floor and wiped her sweaty brow. The inside of her mouth tasted foul. Never in her life had she wanted a bath so much. Daxter pushed herself to her feet and stumbled into the bathroom.

She scrubbed herself clean and then stood there letting the water course over her body until it turned cold. She turned the shower off and dried herself off. As she ran the towel through her hair she noticed a small chunk missing from the back of her neck. Daxter turned to try and see where her hair was missing. It wasn't that noticeable if she combed it right but the hair was definitely gone. "What kind of sick—" Daxter refused to finish the thought. She just wanted to get dressed and get the hell out.

Daxter went back into the bedroom and picked her scattered clothes off of the ground. She slipped her clothes on, grateful to be covered again. She did one last inspection of the room and noticed something on the bed.

There on the left-side pillow was a note. Daxter snatched it up. The note was short, consisting of only four words: He lives, don't bother.

Daxter crumpled the paper in her fist, that bastard knew who Jak was. She threw the note against the wall and watched as it bounced to the floor. "That didn't make me feel better," she muttered. But the knowledge that Jak was alive did.

She guessed that this guy had to work in the prison; it was the only thing that made sense. Daxter wondered if he knew who she was before he tried to seduce her. Did it matter? Not particularly.

The one thing she had to be thankful for was that she didn't remember it. Daxter _knew _what had happened, it was pretty obvious. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. She was angry but mostly she just felt embarrassed. As often as she had bragged about her prowess in the bedroom she had never actually had a sexual encounter before. So now she could say that she had one but it was with a man and she couldn't say what happened if she tried. And on top of all of this the man she had just banged was somehow involved in Jak's imprisonment.

Daxter groaned and smacked her forehead. As if she wasn't having enough problems being a chick, she thought. She wondered if things could get any worse.

-----------


	6. Chapter 5: Tess

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

Now that the evil chapter is out of the way, it's time for one that I enjoyed writing more. Yeah, long chapter of doom!

--------------

Chapter 5: Tess

Two weeks after parting from the Pariah, Daxter was no closer to finding Jak. She was tired, dirty and out of money. Things looked rough. She wandered the streets doing the occasional odd job, hoping it would led to more permanent employment but to no avail. Leaving the Pariah had been a bad move but she couldn't go back now. Well, she probably could but the idea of sitting through another session of "I told you so" from Hal and then telling them what happened at the bar—

No, she wasn't ready for that, maybe in a thousand years, but not now.

Through the haze of her thoughts Daxter noticed that she had circled this same street at least five times. She sighed to herself thinking that she should call it a night. That was when she saw her.

Standing in front of a bar was the prettiest blonde woman Daxter had ever seen and accosting her was one of the ugliest men Daxter had even seen. She was starting to wonder what it was about Haven City that attracted big ugly guys.

"No thanks, I'm not interested," the blonde said, trying to walk away.

"Come on baby, we'll have a good time." The thug grabbed the woman's arm. She shrieked in surprise.

Anger clouded Daxter's mind and she felt all common sense fly out the window as she marched over to the pair. "Hey! She told you to back off, buster!" Daxter drew herself up to her full height (which put her squarely at eye level with the thug's chest) and shoved him.

The thug stepped back in surprise. His face twisted into a scowl and Daxter questioned if this was such a good idea. "Why I ought to--"

The electronic buzz of a Krimzon Guard's voice broke through the argument. "Is there a problem here?"

"No officer, this guy is just leaving," Daxter said.

The thug glared at her but took the hint. After he departed, the Krimzon Guard bid the two women goodnight and moved on.

Daxter moaned in relief. She did not want to be little redhead paste tonight.

The blonde woman squealed and clutched Daxter to her ample chest. "You were wonderful!" she gushed.

Daxter was pleased at her sudden fleshy confinement. "No problem, babycakes. I saw a lady in distress and took it upon myself to be her knight in shining armor."

"Oh, how can I thank you?" the blonde asked.

"Keep hugging me like that and I'll think of something," Daxter said.

The blonde woman giggled and released the smaller woman. She smiled, extending her hand. "I'm Tess."

Daxter took her hand and squeezed. "Daxter, pleased to meet you gorgeous. What are you doing in this a place like this?"

"I was supposed to meet someone here but he never came," Tess said.

Daxter decided to lay on the charm. "Why anyone would ditch a babe like you is beyond me."

Tess giggled, flattered at the younger woman's attention. "It doesn't matter anyway. I still need to repay you somehow. Have you eaten yet?"

"Well—" The loud rumbling from Daxter's stomach answered that question.

The blonde nodded, as if confirming a suspicion. She regarded her savior. The torn clothing, the dirty hair and the skinny frame said it all. "You look like you've had a rough time. Where are you staying?"

Daxter considered lying, but there was something about Tess that made her feel guilty for even thinking about it. "I've been sleeping in alleys mostly," Daxter admitted.

Tess frowned. "That's not going to do. Come on, I'll take you home, get you cleaned up, I'll make you a nice dinner—Oh, and I bet I have some old clothes you can use and we'll doll you right up!" Tess grabbed Daxter's right hand and led her down the street.

Remembering her encounter with Minc, Daxter pulled away. "Hold on a second, toots. Why are you doing all this for me?"

"You saved me and now it's your turn for someone to save you," Tess answered.

Daxter was flabbergasted. "Oh, uh—"

Tess clapped her hands together and took Daxter's wrist. "Come on, silly. We have work to do!"

--------------

Tess had a small apartment on the border between the slums and the parkway. The building was decent but noisy due to the nearby traffic. Over a quick dinner Tess talked about her job tending bar, her family and the political state of the city. Daxter was happy to let her talk; her own blabbermouth was busy stuffing itself. Besides, every time Tess took a deep breath it did interesting things to her chest and Daxter was not shy about ogling.

The two women cleaned up dinner and then Tess sent Daxter off to clean up herself. The shower felt wonderful. Daxter had noticed that during her confinement as a girl, she took more pleasure in the process of getting clean than when she was a boy. She wasn't sure whether it was a difference in awareness or that she just got dirtier in Haven City.

After her shower, Tess dragged Daxter into her bedroom. The poor girl wore only an oversized bathrobe as Tess had taken the liberty of disposing of Daxter's filthy old clothes. The blonde threw open her closet and routed through it. She tossed all possible candidates for Daxter onto her bed. From that pile she produced a set of shorts and a top. She tossed them at the redhead before going outside. "Try these on."

Daxter slipped the clothes on, adjusting straps and such as was necessary. When she was done she stared in horror at the mirror. Tess stepped back into the room. "Well?"

"No offense Tess, but I'd like something more than just glorified panties," Daxter said, pointing to the hip-hugging shorts gracing her body.

Tess put a companionable hand on Daxter's shoulder. "But you have such a cute little body. Why not show it off?"

Daxter grinned, "Thanks for recognizing my sexiness babe, but I need more fabric to cover the sugar."

The blonde grabbed a slightly longer pair of shorts from her pile. "Like these?"

Daxter said slowly, like she was explaining to a child. "No Tess, like pants. Long pants."

Tess was genuinely confused. "But why?"

"Because." Daxter paused. "Because."

Tess was staring at her with an expectant expression. Did Daxter really want to explain that she could, in theory, transform back into a boy at any moment and that she really didn't want to be wearing hot pants when that happened? Then again, anything else she said would probably sound equally ridiculous. Daxter decided to take the plunge. "Tess, I wasn't always a chick."

There was no condemnation on Tess's face, just a desire to understand. It was all that Daxter needed.

She found herself telling Tess about everything: Sandover, her transformation via Dark Eco, Jak's capture, her work with the Pariah and her encounter with the red-haired man at the bar. Tess sat and listened to every word. She did not interrupt; she just absorbed what Daxter told her. When she was done, the redhead waited for a reaction.

"Poor little thing," Tess said, stroking Daxter's hair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Daxter leaned into the touch, turning her head to direct the strokes. At Tess's question, she frowned. "About what?"

"The bar?" Tess said.

Daxter shook her head. "Nah. I got drunk and woke up next to the wrong person, except they weren't still there."

Tess did not push the issue; this wasn't the time. "If you need to talk about it I'm here."

"Thanks, babe. At least I know Jak's still alive," Daxter said.

If the man had told the truth, Tess thought. She didn't want to burst Daxter's bubble, although her description of the man seemed really familiar. Tess withheld her suspicions for now and would just try to help however she could.

"I might know some people who could get more information on your friend for you," Tess offered.

"Sheesh, does everyone in this town know somebody who knows somebody?" Daxter asked.

"Pretty much," Tess said. She stood up and grabbed a long pair of pants. She held them in front of Daxter's legs. "I'll have to hem them a little, but are these better?"

Daxter scrutinized the offered pants. They were much more modest than anything else Tess had shown her and they wouldn't look funny if she transformed while wearing them. She nodded. "Oh yeah."

The quest for a shirt was much shorter. Satisfied that Daxter had clothes again, Tess set about making sleeping arrangements. She threw a pillow and some blankets onto the sofa and arranged them to form a little bed. "You can sleep here on the couch until we find you your own place."

"Sure I can't share the bed?" Daxter asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Tess shook her head. "No silly, all boys, even former boys have to sleep on the couch," she said.

"Damn."

Tess turned out the light. "Goodnight, little sis."

"Night," Daxter called back. For the first time in weeks, Daxter felt safe and cared for. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

-------------------

The next morning Tess set out for work, telling Daxter that she would ask her boss if there were any jobs for the redhead. What Daxter didn't know was that Tess hadn't been totally honest about her occupation. She was a bartender but she was also an agent for the Underground. The previous night she was supposed to meet a contact who had never shown up. The contact had been carrying some plans for a weapons program that could be a potential threat. Tess had to assume that the contact was detained, captured or dead. Her Commander would not be happy.

She entered the Underground's Secret Headquarters by her usual route and found Torn, the Commander of the Underground, bent over several blueprints. He planted a scowl of frustration on his face. "I can't find anyone to take on these assignments. All my good men are either injured or dead," he said. He looked up at Tess. "Did you bring them?" he asked.

"He never showed up last night," Tess explained.

Torn pounded a fist against the table. "Damn it. Without the plans, blowing up the prototypes will be useless, the Guard will just rebuild them."

"But won't it still delay the project?" Tess asked.

The Underground Commander sighed, running a hair through his brown dreadlocks. "That's true, but now I don't have anyone who could even take care of that."

Tess immediately thought of Daxter. "What about getting someone to do contract work?" she suggested.

Torn frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Tess tried to explain. "What if someone wanted to work for us but not all the time?"

He waved an impatient hand at her. "Alright, I just might be desperate enough. And?"

"You know the group the Pariah?" Tess asked. Judging from the unimpressed glare, Torn had. "One of their members has gone freelance."

Torn groaned. "Just don't tell me it's that Stif guy, I'll take anyone else except him."

"No, her codename's Ottsel," Tess said.

Torn gave her a blank stare.

Tess sighed. "They sometimes called her Rat."

"Oh her, she could be useful," Torn said in a dismissive way.

Tess continued. "She did say that she wouldn't take assignments if she had to kill anyone." Actually, Daxter had never specifically said that, but Tess had a feeling the redhead would agree.

"She's Pariah, I'm not surprised," Torn said. He stood up and crossed the room to a large crate on the floor. He opened it and grabbed four circular objects. He placed them in a satchel and handed it to Tess. "Take these. The Baron's working on a new tank prototype, very big, very nasty. Tomorrow morning four models are going through a test run. The Rat needs to place these bombs on the prototypes' underbelly and destroy them. Once she sets them all in place she needs to press the red button. She'll have five minutes to get out. If she survives we'll consider giving her more work."

Tess clutched the bag. "Thank you, Torn."

She started to climb up the ladder leading out of the Underground Headquarters.

"Tess!" Torn called. The blonde paused. "You need to stop bringing in strays."

Tess just smiled and left.

------------

Daxter grunted in frustration and blinked several times to get her eyes to clear. She was on her back affixing a bomb to the vulnerable mechanics on the underside of a mammoth tank. The night air was hot and being stuck underneath several hundred pounds of metal was not helping. Daxter tightened a green wire and smiled in relief, that was the last one. She took the opportunity to wipe off her sweaty brow. All of Torn's bombs were in place so she could press the button and get the hell out.

Her finger sought the shiny button in the middle of the device and watched the red light blink on and off. It was set. In five minutes all four prototypes would be blown sky-high. That was when she heard the footsteps.

"No one's supposed to be here," she muttered. Daxter turned her head toward the sound and saw three pairs of booted feet marching right toward her! There were two men and one woman. One man was large with a metal faceplate that covered half his visage. The other man was thin with sparse white hair, nothing to write home about. The woman on the other hand was a knockout. Her red dreadlocks, facial tattoos, sexy uniform and a curvy body put a healthy leer on Daxter's face.

"Very impressive, doctor," she heard the large man say.

"Thank you, Baron. Of course they won't officially be ready for testing until tomorrow morning," the doctor answered.

The big guy must be this Praxis everyone talks about, thought Daxter.

"I still don't see what good these can do," the woman piped in.

"These armored vehicles will help us get rid of the rubbish that's plaguing our city," the doctor replied.

Daxter looked back up at the clock.

4:30.

She bit her lower lip. Go away go away, she thought.

"But these aren't designed for the terrain outside of the city walls, where exactly do you plan on using them?" the woman asked.

The doctor stuttered. "Well, I'm sure they could—they have many uses—"

Daxter rolled her eyes. Couldn't they have this conversation somewhere else?

"It just seems like an excuse to destroy the slums," the woman said.

The doctor squawked in protest. "Now see here—"

The numbers were ticking down lower and lower and they showed no signs of moving. Sweat popped out on Daxter's forehead. She did not want to die, not when Jak was still locked in prison and not while she was still stuck in this body.

Maybe if she threw something that would distract them long enough for her to get away. What about them? Did she really want to kill anyone, even accidentally?

2:15.

She was running out of time.

Daxter's hands sifted through the dirt below her and produced a good-sized rock. She chucked it to the side where it hit a metal pole with a soft dink. They just stood there; they were too deep in conversation to hear it.

1:00.

Screw them, she thought. Daxter rolled out from under the tank and sprinted to freedom.

"Hey! Stop!" she heard the woman call after her. Daxter ignored the ordered and vaulted over the low wall. The Krimzon Guards were on shift change so she scooted under the mesh fence without incident. Daxter sprang to her feet and hopped onto her parked zoomer. She sped away into the night.

Back at the compound, the red-haired woman cursed at the retreating Daxter.

"What was that?" the doctor asked.

The woman ignored him and listened for a moment. She heard a soft beeping noise—

"Baron! Get out of the way!" she cried and pushed the Baron away from the prototypes.

BOOM! BOOM! The tanks exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. The woman fell on top of the Baron, shielding him with her body. After the last explosion rocked the field she stood up. "Is everyone all right?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you Ashelin," the Baron said, brushing himself off.

The doctor rushed to his superior's side. "My god, someone just tried to kill you."

"I don't think so," Ashelin said. "The testing is schedule for tomorrow and we made this visit at the last minute. No one was expecting us. The tanks were the Underground's primary target."

The doctor harrumphed. "Not that it did them a lot of good. I still have the plans for the prototypes, we can start rebuilding them immediately."

"Don't bother," the Baron said. "Ashelin's right. These tanks need to be adaptable to the terrain outside of the city walls. I have enough Krimzon Guards to take care of the Underground; I need weapons to destroy Metalheads. You can make me those weapons, can't you?"

The doctor's face heated. He gave the Baron a stiff nod. "Yes sir."

-----------------

The mission's success guaranteed Daxter a space in one of the Underground's many safe houses. As long as she did intermittent work for the revolutionary group she had a place to stay. The room was smaller than the one she had lived in with the Pariah but then again, she did not have to share. (Hal had been a funny, if somewhat messy roommate.) She never received assignments directly from Underground command but through Tess. Tess also worked as a go-between with her other employer Krew. Daxter would make deliveries for Krew in exchange for money, services for the Underground or the occasional gun mod.

Besides being a bartender/agent, Tess was also proficient at manufacturing guns. "It's a hobby," she would say with a giggle while holding a firearm that would make most Krimzon Guards wet their pants. During off days, the blonde would take Daxter to the gun range to show her how to use her latest modification. Daxter enjoyed using the guns, she just shied from the idea of using weapons more powerful than a scattergun against anything other than cardboard.

Daxter enjoyed her work, it was more satisfying than stealing but there was still a weight on her heart. She wanted Jak back.

She wanted to see him smile. She wanted him to laugh in his odd silent way. She wanted to sit on the beach and listen to the surf with him. She wanted to sleep under the stars like they had when they were boys (Daxter was always male in her fantasies). She wanted to see his face when Daxter finally won a wrestling match. Daxter wanted to go on adventures that didn't involve guns, bombs or Metalheads. She wanted to get scared of some stupid thing so that Jak would have to save her. Hell, she even wanted Jak to make fun of her teeth.

She had made some friends, good friends, in Haven City but it wasn't the same. They didn't know Daxter when he was a lonely kid, they didn't grow up in the same sleepy village and, most importantly, they didn't know Daxter when she was still a boy.

Her experiences in Haven had taught Daxter about patience but not about satisfaction. The only thing that could give her that was Jak safe and sound. Daxter knew that a break had to come soon. She could feel it in her gut.

And six months after Tess and Daxter met, the Underground was in chaos.

"Tess, send the order, call our spies back in, now!" Torn shouted.

Tess ran to the small communications station and slipped on the headphones. "Why? What's wrong?"

Torn leaned over her shoulder as she transmitted the message. "Remember the program the Rat told you about? It's true. The Baron's started a Dark Eco Warrior Program and her friend's right in the middle of it."

Tess's jaw dropped open. "What?"

"They're pumping his veins full of Dark Eco. I don't know what they hope to accomplish, but it isn't good," Torn said. "They heard about the Pariah information leak months ago but the Krimzon Guard has been biding their time hoping to catch the whole network. They're ready to move and our guys are in the crossfire."

Tess knew that this kind of retreat would severely damage their information network but without it many more would die. But there was one thing that Torn hadn't told her yet and she was certain that Daxter would want to know. "And the Pariah?"

Torn shook his head. "They're gone. The Baron sent a unit to their hideout and destroyed it. We don't know if anyone survived," Torn said.

Tess's eyes widened in horror, how was she going to tell Daxter?

"Tess?" The blonde looked up from her work. Torn sighed. "When you see the Rat, give her our condolences."

-----------

Daxter did not take the news well.

"They're using Jak for what?" Daxter shouted.

Tess and Daxter were in Daxter's room at the safe house. The redhead paced back and forth, careful to avoid stepping on the merchandise for Krew that she had scattered all over the floor. Tess perched on the bed, trying to stay out of her way.

"Torn said something about injecting him with Dark Eco," Tess said.

Daxter stopped. "I don't get this, what are they trying to do? It doesn't make sense!"

"But it's true. We've had to evacuate our spies and the Baron even went after the Pariah," Tess explained.

Daxter flailed her arms in fury. "What? What happened?"

Tess dreaded this. "The Krimzon Guards attacked the Pariah's headquarters, they burned it to the ground."

"And the guys? Where are they?" Daxter asked.

"We don't know," Tess admitted.

Daxter's stomach knotted. She sat on the bed, shaking her head. "I can't believe it. Turk, Gurn, Hal, even Stif, all dead." She felt the wet sting of tears prick at her eyes and she wiped them away. It wouldn't do if Tess saw them.

Tess wrapped a comforting arm around the younger woman. "Daxter, we don't know that for sure. The Pariah could still be out there, just in hiding."

Daxter sniffed, her nose twitching. "You really think that, babe?"

There was a long pause. Tess did not want to get Daxter's hopes up but honestly believed that the members of the Pariah could still be alive. She nodded. "Yes, I do. And I know that they would want you to get your friend out as soon as possible."

"Yeah, they would," Daxter sighed. She leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder. "I should have believed 'em, Tess."

"How would you know? You said it yourself, why would anyone mess with Dark Eco?" Tess asked.

Daxter nodded. "Yeah. I guess." They sat in silence for a while, Tess offering and Daxter receiving comfort.

There were nights back in Sandover like this where Jak and Daxter would just sit together not saying anything. Sometimes Jak would have his arm around Daxter, as Tess was doing now, but often they would just relax side by side. Daxter remembered one night when they were very young, when Daxter had put his arm around Jak.

The older boy had been sobbing mute tears because his beloved Crocodog had died. The dog had been Jak's constant companion, even before he had met Daxter. The boy had seemed inconsolable and so Daxter did the one thing he thought to help, he made a promise. He told Jak that no matter where he was or how bad things got that Daxter would never leave him alone. Jak had beamed at him and wrapped both his arms tight around the smaller boy. Daxter, of course, had flailed in Jak's grip until he finally just let himself enjoy the hug.

Over the years Daxter kept that promise until that first day in Haven City. She had fled and nothing could bring her more shame.

Daxter cleared her eyes one last time and straightened herself up. It was time for action. She knew there was nothing she could do for the Pariah, as much as it pained her. But Jak was still out there and it was time she kept her promise. She cleared her throat. "Well, I know Jak's still in the prison and if he's in that project they aren't going to move him anytime soon."

"Right."

"Tess, I need to stop thinking that someone's gonna help me. This is something I gotta do myself," Daxter said, straightening her posture.

Tess concurred, a smile on her face. "Right."

"So, Tess where can I find a map?"

------------

Over the next three months Daxter cased the prison looking for a weakness. She memorized the shift changes and the gaps they left behind. She observed where supplies came in and out and the security surrounding it. She determined that the best way would be climbing the wall to one of the many air vents in the prison. The problem was the walls were too slick; she could not get the required leverage without special equipment, expensive special equipment.

Working with the Underground had given her food to eat and a roof over her head but now that wasn't enough. She was going to have to find additional work elsewhere.

Daxter sat on her cot in the center of a flurry of paper. Each piece had numbers and figures scribbled onto it as she tried to figure out a budget. Unfortunately, Daxter had never been very good at numbers and Samos had never had the patience required to give her more in-depth tutoring. He had always paid more attention to Jak than to anyone else, even Keira. She idly wondered how the green-haired girl had felt about that or if she even noticed.

There was a knock at the door and a soft voice called out, "Daxter?"

"Come in," Daxter shouted.

The door opened revealing Tess who was holding a large package.

"Tess, what are you doing here?" Daxter asked.

"I brought you a present." Tess crossed the room and handed the younger woman the package.

Curious, Daxter opened it revealing a pair of boots and a set of gloves. "They're nice. What are they for?" Daxter asked.

"They're a special gift from the Underground. You've been a big help to the cause and we wanted to say thank you," Tess said.

Daxter raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Really? I didn't think this was what-his-name's style."

"Well," Tess admitted. "Torn did say that if you could get your friend out of prison that would be one less weapon for the Baron to use against us."

Daxter smirked. "In other words, you told him and he bought it."

Tess shrugged her shoulders. "It works."

Daxter slipped on the gloves, trying out the fit. "So what do these babies do?"

"They grip objects on the molecular level allowing for better cohesion," Tess explained. At Daxter's baffled expression she clarified, "They help you climb stuff."

"Okay," Daxter said.

"So you won't need any other equipment, just these," Tess hinted.

Understanding dawned in Daxter's eyes. "I could go tonight," she realized.

Tess nodded.

Daxter launched herself into Tess's arms, nestling in her cleavage. "Thanks Tess baby, you're the greatest!"

Tess laughed and hugged the redhead. "Be careful, little sis."

"I will," Daxter promised.

---------------

Yes, Torn is quite the grumpy guss but we love him anyway. And pet the Tess; love the Tess. If some people think that Tess is a little too accepting, remember this is the woman who took a two-foot tall, orange, fuzzy thing getting drunk and flirting with her in stride. She is the least judgmental person in the entire game series.

Warning: It might be a little while 'till the next one.


	7. Chapter 6: Reunited

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

Writer's block, how I loathe thee. It's especially awful when you have huge chunks of material already written but it's not going to be necessary for at least a chapter or two. Grrrr.

* * *

Chapter 6: Reunited

When Jak was first learning to control Eco, he would drag Daxter to some strange remote region to practice. Jak would fiddle around with various forms of Eco, trying to figure out which to use with various forms of leftover Precursor technology while Daxter would commentate. One day, Jak discovered that Blue Eco could be used to power the Precursor lifts that operated all around the island. The first time that Jak shot into the air on one Daxter watched with wide eyes.

"Wow, what was that?" Daxter asked.

Jak shook his head, a wild grin on his face. When the platform landed again Jak turned to Daxter holding out his hand.

Daxter pointed to himself and then to the platform. Jak nodded.

"You think that thing can hold two of us, big guy?" Daxter asked.

Jak shrugged.

Daxter rolled his eyes and stood up. "Sheesh, the things I do for you," he muttered. The redhead stood next to his friend on the platform. "Now what?"

Jak reached to the ground, grabbing a small handful of Blue Eco. Suddenly, the platform flew straight up into the air. Daxter shrieked and threw his skinny arms around Jak's neck, burying his face in the older boy's chest. The blond just smiled and wrapped an arm tightly around Daxter's waist. When the platform reached its highest point, Jak moved his hand to Daxter's wrist and they jumped off onto the top of the hill. Daxter stopped his panicked breathing a few minutes later and said, "That wasn't so bad."

Daxter got used to the platforms eventually, but Jak always left a steadying hand around the younger boy's waist.

It was nice to see that old habits died hard.

After breaking Jak out and allowing the boy to get dressed, Daxter led Jak back to the platform that had led her to him. She pressed a button and the machine jerked to a start, moving upward. At the start of the motion, Jak placed his hand on her hip. Daxter raised an eyebrow. She ignored the flush of heat to her cheeks. "You know this isn't that Precursor crap," she said, referring to the elevator.

"I know," Jak replied, keeping his hand in place.

Daxter wondered if it was possible to be both deliriously happy and righteously angry at the same time. For two years she had searched for Jak, thinking and caring about little else and then with one kiss he had proceeded to turn her world upside down. Jak was her friend, her rock, her confident and apparently, a hell of a good kisser. Daxter scowled and shoved the thought to the side, chalking up the delayed startled thrill to being the fault of her body.

She had noticed that as a woman she would sometimes react differently to specific stimuli than when she had been male, namely anything related to Jak. As it was, friends did not kiss friends, they kissed family, lovers or the occasional pet; having never had a pet Daxter was always befuddled by the latter. Daxter as a child had made the mistake of saying, "Yuck, germs" when Jak had kissed his Crocodog on the nose. Of course, Jak responded by giving chase and puckering his lips like a fish while Daxter screamed, "Get away, you big cootie-head!"

Daxter racked her brain for reasons why Jak would kiss her. The most likely was that Jak was missing Keira and had mistaken her for the other girl. Never mind the fact that Daxter had red-orange hair, was shorter, had buckteeth and was a totally different body type. But that had to be it because the other option scared Daxter. Because if Jak actually liked her in a more than friendly way was he giving up on her ever being a boy again?

"You're awfully quiet," Jak said.

Daxter startled at the noise. She still wasn't used to the fact that Jak could talk. "Huh? Well, you gave me quite a shock back there, babe."

Jak looked away. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. The experiments did something to me. I can't control it yet."

"It gave you urges or something?" Daxter asked. It seemed like an odd side effect of Dark Eco to think perverse thoughts about your best friend, but she was willing to go with it. It certainly explained some of her strange dreams of late.

The blond warrior sighed. "It didn't start happening until two months ago. Then they would stick me on the obstacle course and poke and prod me until I made it come out again."

Daxter blinked in confusion. Someone was not following this conversation and she thought it was she. "Uh, are you talking about the whole white hair, claw, I'm the biggest badass ever thing?" she asked.

Jak gave her an odd look. "Yes, what else would I be talking about?"

"Nothing."

The elevator stopped at a catwalk perched high above the ground. Daxter pulled her map out of her bag and glanced at it. Jak leaned forward, looking over her shoulder.

"If we keep going down this way, we'll get to an elevator that'll take us out of this dump," Daxter said, pointing down the catwalk.

"Are there any guards?" Jak asked.

"Let's see genius, um, nope it doesn't look like this map has a 'guard' icon," Daxter said.

Jak snorted and shoved Daxter. The redhead smiled, that was more like the Jak she knew. This was comfortable territory.

The two of them walked down the metal catwalk, trying to make their steps as quiet as possible. After traveling for a good ten minutes the catwalk stopped. Daxter squatted onto her haunches and scooted to the edge. She leaned forward and peered down.

A patrol of Krimzon Guards was milling around far below. She looked up and found some piping that ran along the ceiling. In theory she could use her gloves and work her way over the Guards but the risk of them looking up and seeing her was too great. Besides, she would have to leave Jak behind and that was not an option. She scowled. "We got to go back," she whispered.

Jak nodded his agreement. Daxter moved back and CREAK! The metal groaned beneath her feet. She froze, eyes wide.

The Krimzon Guards paused and looked up at the catwalk, spotting a tiny figure. They cocked their guns.

Jak dove on top of Daxter and knocked her to the ground. He rolled the two of them backward out of the line of fire. He covered her body, cradling her head in his hands and placing his head on tops of hers. Bullets tore through the air, striking the floor and railings of the catwalk. Daxter's ears rang from the aural assault of metal striking metal. She clamped her eyes shut, terrified of what was happening. In the dark her world became the sound of gunfire and the warm presence on top of her.

The sounds stopped and Daxter cracked an eye open. Jak's face was scant inches from hers. His heated breath fanned over her. Daxter's heart thudded in her chest from fear and something she couldn't identify. Her eyes hurt from trying to focus on something that close. "Jak?" she asked, her voice a soft keening whine.

"Shush." Jak leaned up and listened.

"Did we take care of him?" one of the Krimzon Guards asked.

A click and a buzz as another Guard sucked air in through his mask. "Don't know; we'd better go up to be sure."

Daxter bit her lower lip. "We better get out of here!" she whispered.

"No," Jak muttered. He stood up and went to the edge of the platform. Daxter scrambled into a sitting position, watching him, unable to move.

Dark energy crackled around the blond figure. His skinned and hair paled to white. His fingers flexed as black claws grew from their tips and dark horns curled on his head.

The demon roared and leapt off the catwalk down to the floor far below. Paralysis broken, Daxter rushed forward and looked down over the platform railing.

Dark Jak was on the offensive the second his feet touched the ground. He launched himself at the nearest Guard, his fists and claws puncturing the soldier's armor. He latched onto his victim and catapulted him into a pair of troops trying to reload their weapons. The Krimzon Guards were caught off-guard by Dark Jak's vicious assault and quickly fell.

Daxter recognized some of Jak's moves from their adventuring days but most of the attacks were new. Crimson stained the floor making Daxter's stomach heave. She was starting to wonder what else happened while Jak was in prison.

With none of the Krimzon Guards still standing, Jak reverted to his normal form. He looked up at Daxter. "Are you coming? Or do you want me to catch you?"

Daxter scowled. "Give me a minute." She flexed her gloved hands and reached for a long pipe running from floor to ceiling. She grabbed it and shimmied down to Jak's level.

The carnage was worse close up and Daxter had to fight not to just shut her eyes. The smell of freshly charred meat hung in the air. Daxter looked around at the fallen Guards. The armor made it difficult to see whether they were breathing or not. She needed to take a closer look.

"Whoa, those are some nice moves buddy, a little gruesome but they get the job done," Daxter joked. She knelt next to an unmoving Krimzon Guard. "You really did a number on these guys." She placed two fingers on his jugular. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The color faded from her face. "Jak?" Daxter's voice trembled. "They're dead."

"Really?" Jak asked. He looked at his oldest friend, concerned at her expression.

"Shit, Jak," she hissed, standing up.

Jak looked confused. "What, you didn't have any problem with me killing Lurkers."

"Well yeah, they weren't people," Daxter explained. "And you didn't really kill them they just kind of," she waved her hand in the air, searching for the word. "Turned into Eco blobs."

"They're Krimzon Guards Dax. They were going to hurt you," Jak said.

"That doesn't matter, Jak. There are worse things outside of the city than Krimzon Guards and we shouldn't kill the people who can take care of them," Daxter said. Her heart ached even as she said it. The image of Turk leaning over an electronic lock and teaching her how to open it came unbidden. She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes and she blinked to make it stop.

"Daxter," Jak started, gripping the redhead's shoulders. "I've changed—"

"Yeah, the talking was the first clue, big guy. I haven't exactly stayed the same either," Daxter snapped, a single tear leaking through. Stop crying, stop it, she chided herself.

Jak's grip tightened and Daxter fought back a wince. She was going to bruise if he didn't let up. Jak's face twisted in disappointment and anger. Jak spoke slowly and deliberately, "The Baron hurt me and I want revenge."

"Jak," Daxter cried, wiggling in his grip. The tears were coming freely now, despite her best efforts. "You're the hero, you're not supposed to kill people!"

That did it. Jak relaxed his hold on Daxter's shoulders and wrapped the small woman into a hug. "I'm sorry," he muttered. Jak rested his cheek against the top of Daxter's head. Daxter buried her head in the crook of his neck, soaking his collar.

Her hands came up and clung to Jak with all her might. Damn it, after two years they were together again and she had to pick a fight. It felt good having him near her again, even if they weren't at their best. As they held onto each other Daxter couldn't help but notice the new bulk on Jak's body. Apparently his hair wasn't the only physical change. The skin on his arms was still soft and the muscles beneath it were hard . . .

Daxter had to break that chain of thought now before something bad happened. She pulled back and squeezed Jak's forearms. "What'd they feed you in there? These are huge!"

Jak chuckled. "They didn't feed me much during the treatments, food made me sick. But on course days I got some pretty good stuff."

"Really? Figures you'd be eating like a king while I'm wasting away out in the cruel city streets," Daxter said. She threw her hand up against her head and made an exaggerated sigh.

Jak rolled his eyes. Daxter smiled. Good, they were okay again but she knew this issue wouldn't go away. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps," she said.

-

They made it outside without running into any more Krimzon Guards, for which Daxter was grateful. Now they had to find a way back to the safe house. Jak and Daxter moved along the walls of nearby buildings, taking advantage of the cover of darkness.

"Once we find a zoomer, I'm driving," Daxter said.

"Since when can you drive?" Jak asked.

Daxter swore she could hear the pout in his voice. "Well it's not like I could just stick my thumb out and wait for a ride all the time," she snapped.

Jak frowned. "Who taught you?"

Daxter rolled her eyes. "What's with the twenty questions? Besides, I'm the one who knows where we're going and you couldn't hotwire a zoomer anyway."

At that moment a Krimzon Guard on a zoomer made a slow turn around the corner right in front of them. As soon as his head was in view, Jak punched the Guard right off the zoomer. "I don't need to," Jak said.

The blond hopped on and grabbed Daxter's wrist, pulling her up behind him on the vehicle. "Show off," Daxter muttered, grabbing onto him as they sped off into the city streets.

Daxter navigated them through the twists and turns to the safe house in the slums. Once there the twosome dismounted and went up to the decrepit building. Daxter spoke a simple password to the doorman and they were let inside. Although the safe house was hardly the best possible shelter, to Jak they were a lot better than the prison. Daxter led Jak up to her room and shut the door behind them.

For some reason, Daxter felt very nervous about having Jak in her room. When they were children it didn't matter but then again they were both male at the time. Daxter chuckled as she locked the door. "So anything you need Jakie boy? Water, food an escort service?" she joked. She turned around to find that Jak was standing right in front of her. How the hell did he get so close without her knowing it?

Jak was staring at her with the same enigmatic look that had bothered her so many years before. After all this time she still wasn't sure what it meant. "Jak?" she asked. She hated the uncertain whimper in her voice that made her sound like she was twelve again.

Jak raised a hand and stroked the side of her cheek. "He hurt you," he said. "Erol."

The name sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. "Who?"

Jak swallowed. He looked uncomfortable. "He touched you and—"

"I don't remember it," Daxter interrupted. It was true; she did not remember the incident in question. But how did Jak know about it?

"You don't?" he asked. His eyes were searching hers trying to figure out the truth.

Daxter squirmed under his scrutiny. She straightened up and stiffened her posture. "Nope. Got drunk and woke up with a hangover," she said.

Jak could tell she was leaving something out. "But he remembered. He told me things," Jak said.

Wonderful, he was being vague. "What kinds of things?" Daxter asked.

Jak stood there looking uncertain. He wouldn't answer. Daxter scoffed. "Jak, you're not making sense."

Jak frowned. "You really don't remember?"

Daxter shook her head. "Not a thing, babe."

Jak sighed. "I'll tell you later." He backed away and went to the couch. Jak placed a hand on it and pushed down. Finding it acceptable, he flopped onto it. A small smile curved on his face, the old couch was probably the most comfortable thing he'd sat on in two years.

Daxter exhaled and went to the small refrigerator she had in the corner. She took out two of the bland nutrition bars favored by the Underground and sat next to Jak on the couch. She handed him a bar and took a bite from her own. "So what do we do now, big guy?" Yup, it still tasted like nothing.

"We go after Praxis," Jak said.

Daxter scowled around her bar. "Jak—"

Jak wrapped a placating arm around her shoulder. "Daxter, I know you're mad about the Krimzon Guards but I can't let Praxis get away with what he's done."

"So you want to kill him," Daxter said around another mouthful of bar.

The hand on her shoulder began to stroke up and down. "And Erol. He's hurt too many people to let him go free."

Daxter shook her head. "Jak, killing's wrong—"

"What if I just kill Erol and the Baron but I leave everyone else alone?" Jak asked. He was looking at her with big blue puppy dog eyes. If he hadn't been asking her about something so serious she would have just said yes without a second thought.

Daxter bit her lower lip. Turk probably wouldn't approve but then again Turk wasn't around anymore was he? The Baron and Erol had seen to that. She could see that Jak needed this and quite frankly, she really wanted Erol to pay. "Okay, but remember no killing anyone, even Krimzon Guards. You can still maim them a little though."

Jak smiled like a kid during Winter Festival and squeezed Daxter to him. The redhead choked at the tight confinement. When Jak released her, she stood up and went to a trunk by her cot. She pulled out some blankets and a pillow and tossed them at Jak. "We got to get some sleep, I'm going to introduce you to the Underground tomorrow," she said.

"The Underground?" Jak asked.

"Yeah, you want the Baron, they do too. Just make yourself comfortable on the couch, big guy," Daxter said.

"Why can't we share the bed?" Jak asked.

Because my body's gone crazy and I might do something we'll both regret, she thought. "We aren't twelve anymore, Jak. Good night." Daxter turned off the light and slipped into her sleep clothes. She crawled into her bed and shut her eyes.

As her awareness started to drift away, she felt the bed shift behind her and a warm solid body spooned against her. An arm caught around her waist and pulled her tight against the man behind her. Jak cradled his head in the crook of her neck and she could hear his breathing slow. She felt a small tingle in her groin but it was easy to ignore. If she hadn't been so tired she might have pushed Jak off of her, but right now it felt like the most wonderful thing in the world.

It was amazing how the more things changed the more they stayed the same. And just like old times, if Jak didn't mention it than neither would she.

* * *

Yes, Daxter has a middle name and that name is DENIAL. Just had to say that. : ) They've had their first fight. sniff 


	8. Chapter 7: Krew

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

And I fixed a bit of the punctuation on the previous chapter. Thanks, Demyrie.

Never read William Gibson and then attempt to write fanfic, for some reason he just makes me lethargic. Bah. Also, for some reason, is having issues with my break lines. Grrr.

* * *

Chapter 7: Krew 

The next morning after a quick and easy breakfast the duo set out for the Underground Headquarters. Tess had disclosed the location to Daxter just prior to the rescue mission so that Daxter could officially declare her allegiance to the Underground. Under normal circumstances, Daxter would have traveled light, but today she took her scattergun. She didn't want to be caught unawares and have Jak freak out again.

Jak had once again insisted on driving and they made it in record time, minus ten minutes of running away from an irate Krimzon Guard. It took them a few moments to determine exactly which filth-encrusted door was the right one but once inside Daxter was ready to make her grand entrance. Unfortunately, there was only one person present. The dread locked Commander was leaning over his desk looking at machine parts.

Daxter walked right up to the table and planted her hands on the edge. The force sent several smaller pieces into the air. "You must be Torn," Daxter said.

Torn scowled, rearranging his work. "Who are you?"

"I am Daxter," the redhead said, a huge grin on her face.

Torn gave her a blank stare.

Daxter decided to try something else. "Also known as Ottsel."

She received another blank stare. Daxter could hear a snort from Jak who was standing behind her.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "You guys call me Rat."

"Oh Rat, how'd your mission go?" Torn asked.

"Piece of cake," Daxter bragged. She jerked a thumb back to Jak. "This is my buddy, Jak." The blond stepped forward. He did not offer his hand.

Torn and Jak sized each other up. "Congratulations, Rat. You want a medal?"

Daxter shook her head, perching on the table. She crossed her legs and grabbed one of the machine pieces, examining it. "No, Jakkie boy wants to join the Underground. He was real hero back where we come from."

Torn frowned and snagged the part from Daxter's grip. He shot Jak a bored look. "You must have had something going for you for the Baron to keep you around this long, but that's no guarantee. The Rat's already proven herself but I don't know about you yet," Torn said.

Jak smirked, eager to answer the challenge. "What do I need to do?"

"Take the Baron's banner from the top of the Ruined Tower. Bring it back to me and maybe we'll talk," Torn said.

Daxter pushed herself off the table, scattering more delicate parts. "That'll be easier than herding Yakcows. Let's go, Jak."

Torn interrupted. "No Rat, he's got to do it alone."

The redhead deflated. "But—"

"He's right, Dax. This is my gig," Jak said. He turned and walked out the door.

Daxter watched him go, biting her lower lip. This was the first time that they had been separated since finding each other again. What if he got caught going alone? She started twitching her foot. She heard Torn cough and turned around. "What?"

"How long was he in the program?" Torn asked.

"Two years," Daxter said.

Torn nodded. He looked impressed. "Most prisoners don't last one. He's lucky,"

Daxter snapped, "Yeah 'cause being tortured is my favorite Saturday night thing."

There was an awkward silence. Daxter continued to twitch and finally took to outright pacing.

Torn broke the quiet. "You worried?"

Daxter paused, bouncing on her feet. "He's been out of it for two years, you know? I mean, maybe he needs a little help getting back into the groove of the whole adventuring thing."

"If he's half the hero you think he is, he'll be fine."

Daxter nodded and started to pace again.

"Rat?" Torn said. "Sit down, you're wearing a hole in my floor."

Daxter obediently sat in a chair, her foot ticking back and forth.

Ten minutes passed but it felt more like an hour. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash from outside.

"What the—" Torn started. He bolted up the stairs with Daxter trailing after him. As they reached street level the source of the commotion became clear. The Ruined Tower was collapsing in on itself, dust and mortar clouding the sky. Daxter turned her head and noticed a figure jumping down from the building next to it. She pointed it out to Torn.

"It's Jak!" she said.

The blond warrior dove off an awning and rushed to their side. In his left hand was the Baron's banner.

Torn scowled. "That was reckless," he said, snatching the banner.

Jak grinned. "You never said the tower had to stay up."

"You could have brought the entire Krimzon Guard on our heads!" Torn snapped.

Jak's eyes narrowed, his voice took on a sharp edge. "You told me to get the stupid banner and I did!"

"Maybe you should—"

Daxter stepped in between the two men, arms out. "Hey, why wasn't I invited to this testosterone party?" She smiled and patted Jak's chest. "You know, old sourpuss is right. You could learn something about stealth." Daxter coughed into her hand and whispered to Torn. "Don't piss him off, tough guy. Jakkie boy's got some serious problems, like scary problems."

Torn shot Jak a challenging look. "I guess we can keep Jak on a probationary basis. If he makes just one wrong move, he's out of here." Daxter gave Torn a thumbs-up and Jak just smirked. "One of our 'suppliers' needs his payment delivered, a bag of Eco ore. Take it to the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon in South Town. Ask for Krew-he'll be there," Torn said, leading the twosome back into the Underground Headquarters. He fetched a sack and tossed it to Jak. "Get it there at any cost. Don't let the Guard stop you."

Daxter said, "You got it. Let's get going, Jak."

They turned to leave when Torn called after them. "Rat, I know that Tess is your friend but Krew doesn't know she works for the Underground. Understand?"

"I'll find a way to keep her quiet," Jak said with a suggestive smile.

Daxter scowled and punched the older boy in the arm. She muttered something rude under her breath as the two of them ascended the stairs. Torn rolled his eyes. "Tess has got to stop bringing in strays."

-

The Hip Hog Heaven was just as appealing as its name implied. The interior of the bar was dark and dingy. The faint sour smell of alcohol and too many long nights tainted the air. Jak and Daxter entered with their precious cargo in tow. Daxter did not hide her disgust as they entered.

The saloon was empty except for a lone dark-skinned figure at the bar. Daxter, remembering Jak's underwhelming conversation with Torn, said, "I'll take care of this, big guy. Watch me work my charm."

She sidled up to the bar. "Hey, mister."

Suddenly an obese man on a small flying contraption floated up to her. Not letting herself get ruffled, she turned to the newcomer. "Are you Krew? We got your shipment here in primo condition."

The large man, Krew as it turned out, smiled. "Yes, that's good, eh; that Eco's worth more than ten of your lives. Of course I would be forced to collect it slowly." Krew cooled himself with a small paper fan. He sized up the blond and the redhead. "Hmm, seems the Underground will take anyone with a pulse these days."

Daxter huffed in offense. "I'll have you know that we are the world famous Jak and Daxter."

Krew stroked his chin. "Daxter. I do believe I have heard that name before." He looked to the dark-skinned man at the bar. "Have you, Sig?" The dark-skinned man shrugged.

The redhead nodded, "Yeah, I've done some work for you."

Krew waved a dismissive hand. Many people have worked for him. "Refresh my memory."

Daxter opened her mouth to speak when Jak piped in. "They call her Rat."

She glared at her blond partner. Jak just responded with a playful grin. She was definitely going to have to get him back for that.

"Oh yes, of course." Krew floated down to the other end of the bar. He picked up a glass of some pinkish substance and took a sip. "Dreadful that whole Pariah business; I was very sorry to hear about their passing."

Tess had told Daxter about Krew's connections but she was still surprised. The Pariah had been an insular group. They tended not to associate with other syndicates, large or small. Daxter sighed. "Me too."

"The Pariah?" Jak asked.

"A group of minor thieves. They were getting quite the reputation with Miss Daxter on their team but sadly the Baron eliminated them. That's what happens when you ask the wrong questions," Krew said.

Jak shot Daxter a questioning look. For months Daxter had been anxious trying to figure out how to tell Jak that she had been a thief. She hadn't been sure how the innocent boy from Sandover would have reacted. After yesterday's display of violence, however, Daxter figured that was now a moot point. "I'll explain later," she muttered.

Krew took another delicate sip. "And what about you, Jak? Do you have any references?"

Jak gave Daxter a silent plea. She took pity on him. "Well, Jak's kinda new in town. He's trying to get himself started, know what I mean?" she said. "But you and me Krew are heavies in this burg, right?" She reached up and snagged Krew's drink. She took a sip and handed it back to him. She nodded in approval. "This place has some potential. If we teamed up we could make this joint top-class. Just add some nice looking girls, some new types of liquor, fumigate, steam-clean it a little, and change the name. I mean, Hip Hog Heaven? The hell kind of name is that?"

Krew downed the rest of his drink and set the empty glass on a high shelf. "You see, the Hip Hog reminds me of myself," Krew said.

Daxter barely managed to hold back a snicker.

The saloon owner chose to ignore her. "The Hip Hog is intelligent, cunning and quite gentle until provoked. Once angered it is capable of very swift and very messy retribution." Krew grinned, an unpleasant sight. It reminded Daxter of Jak standing over the fallen Krimzon Guards. She silently swore that she would make sure Jak never smiled like that. "And of course, the irony of its corpulence does not escape me."

Daxter and Jak managed a weak chuckle. She very much wanted to leave the bar. "Jak and I—"

Before Daxter could get any further, Krew interrupted. "Sig, give them their bonus."

Sig tossed Jak a scattergun.

The blond inspected it, hefting its weight. A slow smile spread across his face.

"You ever use one of those before?" Sig asked.

"No," Jak said.

"Try it out on the shooting range. If you do well we might consider the both of you for other jobs," Krew said.

Daxter groaned under her breath and followed Jak and Sig. Once on the shooting range, they were on Daxter's turf. She showed Jak how to shoot and how to reload efficiently. She helped him with his stance and with firing while moving. Thrilled at being able to teach Jak something for once, Daxter chattered and smiled during the entire lesson. She was surprised to see how quickly Jak took to using a weapon. Back in Sandover he had fought with his feet and his fists. Daxter felt a twinge of sadness that this world could not use or appreciate Jak's natural grace.

Then it was Daxter's turn and she went through the paces as she always did on the course. When she heard Jak clap in approval she felt a flush of pride.

Pleased with their performance on the gun course, Sig reported to Krew. The larger man waved his fan in pleasure. "Excellent shooting. Have you thought about being wastelanders?"

"Can't say that I have," Jak said.

"What's a wastelander?" Daxter asked.

"Wastelanders find artifacts outside of the city walls, 'ey. Of course anything of real value passes through my hands," Krew chuckled to himself. "You may have to take care of the occasional Metalhead but I'm certain that won't be a problem for one with your skills. If you work for me I'll send some of the sweeter items your way."

"Kill Metalheads. Get toys? Sounds good to me," Jak said.

"Whoa, Jak and the fat man, you guy's gotta run that by me again. There is no way I am going back outside the city to deal with Metalheads!" Daxter said.

"What's the big deal?" Jak asked.

"Have you ever seen a Metalhead? Oh wait, um . . . no you haven't," Daxter snapped. She scowled and crossed her arms.

Sig chuckled. "Seems the Chili Pepper here's too scared to be a Wastelander."

"No way, grumpy man, I'm done with Metalheads," Daxter said. She gave them a brief version of her encounter with Hal.

The dark-skinned man shook his head. "We won't be finding any of those kinds of Metalheads so the scattergun'll be fine. Besides, me and Golden Boy will watch your butt."

"Right. So what do we do?" Jak asked.

"You doughboys are going to watch my back while I bag five Metalheads for trophies for the Hip Hog. Should get more butts in the seats here. We'll meet down at the Pumping Station. Don't leave me dangling in the wind, Cherries," Sig said.

"We got it." Daxter grabbed Jak's sleeve. "I swear, if you get us killed I'll kill you," she said.

She headed toward the door when she heard Sig speaking softly to Jak. "You know Cherry, put the Chili Pepper in one of those little schoolgirl skirts there and you'll have a good old time."

Daxter's face flamed as red as her hair. She went out the door without saying another word. When Jak caught up to her she glared at his smug expression. "Do you believe that guy?" she hissed.

"Yeah, I thought it was a good suggestion," Jak teased.

Daxter's scowled. "Ha ha, laugh it up hero boy. Once I get back to normal, you'll be the one in the skirt."

Jak just shook his head. As the headed for their zoomer, Daxter glanced over to the back of the saloon. There was a two-person zoomer with a man in the driver's seat. He was covered in armor and clothes and a scarf obscured his face. The only identifiable feature was the short black hair on his head. Daxter's eyes narrowed. He seemed awfully familiar.

"You coming or what?" Jak asked.

"Yeah," Daxter called back, and climbed onto the zoomer.

-

Sig was waiting for them at the Pumping Station. It was pretty much as Daxter remembered. She figured that utility stations didn't change much from year to year.

"Okay Cherries, it takes a few for my Peacemaker to warm up so you're going to have to keep those Metalheads off my back. Here?" Sig said. In his hand was a large staff-like weapon, the Peacemaker.

Jak and Daxter were in love. "Ooooh, I want one of those. Where'd you get it?" Daxter asked.

"Don't ask. Cherry will take the front and Chili Pepper will cover my six. Got it?" Sig ordered.

The twosome nodded.

Sig smirked, hefting his weapon. "Good. Now let's get some Metalheads."

The three of them climbed up onto a series of platforms, looking for Metalheads. Sig held out a hand for them to stop. He pointed. Up high on another platform was a good-sized Metalhead, big enough to make Daxter's skin crawl. She gave Jak an apprehensive look. Jak just shrugged, he was unafraid. Daxter felt a little better.

Sig made himself comfortable and started firing up the Peacemaker.

Suddenly, a huge band of small Metalheads swarmed around them, attracted by the noise. Jak and Daxter took their positions and fired. The Metalheads were propelled backwards and disintegrated into Dark Eco blobs. The redhead was gratified to see that the scattergun was actually working. She felt her confidence soar. "Want a piece of me? Want a piece? Oh, too bad tall, dark and ugly!"

She looked back at Jak and gaped in shock. When Jak killed a Metahead, the Dark Eco would not just sit there. It would fly through the air to Jak and his body would then absorb the Dark Eco.

"What the hell?" Daxter muttered.

"Chili Pepper!"

Daxter turned to the sound. A Metalhead was almost on top of Sig! She fired and sent it flying.

"Stop daydreaming, we got work to do!" Sig shouted.

A moment later, the Peacemaker was ready. The Metalhead never had a chance. A bolt of purple energy caught it right in the middle and the creature tumbled off the platform to the ground. Sig held up a single finger. "One down."

Four to go.

The rest of the Metalheads fell pretty easily. By the third one, Jak and Daxter had a routine down pat. They even took to playing chicken with Sig about how close they would let the monsters get before blasting them away. This infuriated Sig and he took to yelling obscenities and threats at the twosome. One of their favorites was, "If you don't quit that I'll swat your butt 'til it's as red as your head, Chili Pepper!" The other was, "Do you want me to shove that gun where the sun don't shine, Golden Boy?"

When they were done, Sig turned to them. "You Cherries did good for being a bunch of smartasses. I'll take these trophies back to the Hip Hog. Tell Krew we've got 'em cooked and canned," he said.

The twosome smirked and went to leave when Sig grasped their shoulders. "And if you ever pull that crap again I'll beat you blue 'til Sunday," he said.

They nodded, getting the message. Jak and Daxter left the Pumping Station and once again mounted their zoomer. If the morning had been any indication, this was going to be a very busy day. The good thing was that a busy day didn't afford any time to think.

Back at the Hip Hog, Daxter ran into a familiar face. "Tess, baby!" she said, arms open wide. "You miss me?"

Tess smiled and gave her friend a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

Daxter backed away and looked over the counter. "What have you got back there?" She hopped over and started routing through the bottles behind the bar. "Oh, this was a good year."

Meanwhile, Krew had pulled Jak aside. "I have a proposition for you. Racing is the biggest sport in the city. The grand champion is a man named Erol. He's very fast, very dangerous. A madman on the track. I figured what better competition than another madman?" he said.

Jak grinned. "Right."

"A client of mine is looking for a fast racer and I thought that you and the Rat might fit the bill nicely. Here's a security pass to the stadium area." Krew handed Jak a plastic card pass. "There is a contract, but I already signed your names just to save time. Hmmm."

Jak didn't care about the contract. He cared that he would have a shot at Erol much sooner than he thought. Daxter needed to hear this.

"Dax!" he shouted. He looked over at the bar and saw a pretty blonde woman and some flashes of red hair bobbing up and down. Daxter had to be back there. He scowled. Jak knew that Daxter got distracted by a pretty face much too easily. And this woman had pretty everything. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tess, Daxter's friend. You must be Jak," she said.

Jak was surprised at the familiarity. If she was Daxter's friend, what did that mean? Was she competition? "How—"

"Tall, blond, handsome. You're pretty much all that Dax talks about," Tess said with a grin. She whispered. "I think I can see why."

Jak was thrilled at that information, particularly the glowing terms, but kept a stoic composure. "Tess, she shouldn't be drinking. We've got work to do."

Tess winked. She leaned forward and looked at Jak's behind. She then turned her gaze down to Daxter. "You're right, you can bounce a quarter off it," she said.

Daxter jumped up, an open bottle in her hand. She was mortified. "Tess," she hissed under her breath. "You're not supposed to say that."

For the redhead's sake, Jak pretended not to have heard it. But he did file it away for later. "We've got to go," Jak said.

Daxter whined. "Damn it, I didn't even get to try anything."

"You can try everything later," Tess offered.

Daxter leaned against the bar and smirked. "You promise?"

Tess giggled and took the open bottle. "Promise."

"You're the best, sugerbuns," Daxter said, kissing her cheek. She vaulted over the bar and slung an arm around Jak's neck. "All right, what've we got, big guy?"

"Racing contract," Jak replied, leading them out of the bar.

"Sounds like fun," Daxter said.

Jak leered, thinking about all the painful things he could do to Erol. "Yeah, it should be."

* * *

Yeah, apparently my Daxter has some sticky fingers because she keeps messing with other people's stuff. I managed to find a copy of the Jak II game script online which has been a real help with figuring out missions. Obviously, I'm playing with the order of them for narrative purposes and since this is an AU, who cares? 


	9. Chapter 8: Keira

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

Time to see if I can rescue a certain female from the character assassination attempts made by Naughty Dog. Bad Naughty Dog, bad!

* * *

Chapter 8: Keira 

Two years of being alone and Keira found it was starting to wear on her. When she first came to Haven City she was completely surrounded by strangers. Jak, Daxter and even her father were nowhere to be found. All of her inquiries were met with indifference or outright hostility. The city was nothing like Sandover. It was cold and unforgiving where Sandover had been warm and open.

She desperately wanted to find her companions but Keira concluded, much like Daxter had, that she also needed to take care of herself, which meant finding food and shelter. And to obtain those she needed a job.

Through events she couldn't quite remember, she ended up at the Haven City stadium. There she observed the city's most popular and brutal sport, noting the frequency of crashes and vehicle problems. An idea popped into Keira's head. If she could get work as a mechanic here, not only would she have a place to stay, with the crowds of people that flowed in and out everyday she was certain to hear something about Jak and Daxter. That was, if they were even in Haven City. She refused to think that. She couldn't believe that fate would be that cruel as to scatter all four of them without any chance of reunion.

After one of the races, Keira approached one of the mechanics and asked about getting work. It was surprisingly easy and Keira was more than able to prove her worth. After she settled in, she tried to find word on Jak, Daxter or her father. None came. For a while she despaired, then remembered all of the times when she didn't know what was happening to Jak and how it had turned out fine. She figured that while she waited she could work on her own project. When Jak and Daxter had moved the Rift Gate to her father's lab, they had also brought a sled-like vehicle.

Keira believed that the Rift Rider, as she had mentally dubbed it, must have been part of the original Gate's mechanism. Perhaps part of the reason they were all separated was their failure to use the device on their way through. And perhaps, if she could assemble another one, they might have a chance of making it back home. She had studied the device a great deal before the Rift Gate had absorbed all of her and Samos's attention and believed she could rebuild it from memory.

It was a task easier said than done.

While working at the stadium Keira had made some good acquaintances but she hesitated to call them friends. She kept company with other mechanics developing friendly rivalries and the occasional enemy. But to her the most interesting person was a dark haired man a few years older than herself named Duran.

Duran was an apprentice to one of her rival's, although Keira believed his skill surpassed his master's. The problem was that Duran was a bit of an idiot savant when it came to machines. He instinctually knew what needed to be done but once he was finished he could not tell you what he did. This made him an object of ridicule and Keira hated that. She took it upon herself to tutor him in the proper terminology of what he did on a day-to-day basis.

The process was long and difficult but Keira felt a small thrill whenever Duran had learned and applied a new concept. The young man was very bright but terribly shy, so he would blush and stutter in Keira's presence. Over time, Duran gained a healthy dose of confidence but would descend into his old habits when extremely nervous or harassed. In return for her help, Duran would bring her lunch or dinner when she forgot to eat or would assist her with cleaning her garage at night. He was a rarity in Haven City, a genuine thoughtful person and Keira was grateful for him. She had always been fond of the unusual.

As a youth, Keira had not been a fan of convention. She had enjoyed defying people's expectations and pursued her own dreams. The villagers had expected a certain level of intelligence from her, being a Sage's daughter, but her mastery and understanding of Precursor technology astounded everyone, even her father. Keira took well-deserved pride in that although she never let it go to her head.

There were other expectations that were harder to avoid. As a young woman she was supposed to find a suitable young man and marry. And Keira admitted to having a crush on Jak but part of the reason was he was the only suitable boy available. There was Daxter, but he was Daxter, which automatically disqualified him.

Two years ago she could have seen herself married to Jak with a big wedding and all the children and responsibilities that came with it. Now that possibility was remote, if not impossible. It was not just Haven's way of crushing happiness but her own transformation as a woman as well. She hated the loneliness of her life but she liked the independence.

"Keira," Duran said, entering her workspace.

Keira peered around the green curtain she had put up to separate the rest of her garage and the Rift Rider. "What is it?"

"Some people are asking about you. I think they're from Krew," he said.

Keira scowled. Krew had been a thorn in her side almost since the beginning.

One night after she had just established herself as a mechanic, her workshop had been torn up. Luckily, the Rift Rider had remained unharmed but the rest of the shop was in ruins. Keira had demanded to know what had happened from the other mechanics. They were mum except for Duran. He explained that the stadium was under Krew's "protection." If a mechanic wanted to make sure that nothing happened to their garage they had to pay Krew a fee to keep their place safe. Keira had been furious but agreed if only to keep her shop from being attacked.

Thus she was one of Krew's many "clients" and she hated being in his pocket.

"Do you want me to send them away?" Duran asked.

Keira shook her head. "I'll take care of it. You should probably go back so you won't get in trouble," she said.

Duran smiled. "It's no problem. I just wanted to help." The dark-haired man ran off into the stadium.

She watched him for a few moments before ducking back behind the curtain. She preferred the cool anonymity offered by the cloth, particularly in the face of men like the ones who worked for Krew.

After a moment or two, she heard a masculine voice. "Er . . . hello, Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?"

Keira turned to see the newcomers. Through the curtain she could discern a male and a female figure. She was curious because Krew never hired women as bruisers. "I'm busy right now," she said. "You two must be Krew's new errand boys. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not interested in any new race drivers." That was a lie, but she sure as hell didn't have to use Krew's men. "And I've got work to do."

"Is there anything we can do?" the male asked.

This was new and different. Most of the time Krew's men would snap back at her and the whole thing would degenerate into a shouting match. "No. It's a secret . . . a top secret . . . vehicle project . . . thingy," Keira said.

"Okay, sorry," the man said. The woman raised her hand but the man elbowed her and she stopped.

Keira sighed. She really had no excuse being rude when this guy was so polite. "Listen, if you think you've got the guts to race in this town that my prototype Jet-Board over there. If you can beat the Stadium challenge I might consider using you on the racing team."

"Thanks," the man said. He picked up the board and walked out of her shop, the woman trailing behind him.

Keira turned back to the Rift Rider. That guy had reminded her of someone but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Was it wise to let a stranger use the Jet-board when she hadn't finished testing it yet? Back in Sandover she would never let anyone touch anything until she was through with it.

She smiled, remembering all the times she tried to use her inventions to win either Jak's or her father's approval. Daxter had always given her attention so she had never had to do anything special to get it. That was something she appreciated although she would never admit it.

After Daxter's accident, Keira had been preparing a heat shield for the journey across the volcanic road. While she was tinkering with that, she had also refurbished an old prototype zoomer in hopes of impressing Jak.

One bright morning she had finished and called everyone together for a meeting in Samos's hut. She had hidden her surprise under a bright tarp. The others looked at it with curiosity, much to her pleasure. With barely concealed excitement she said, "Since you guys have been running around getting Power Cells, I thought I'd make things a little easier."

Keira whipped the cover off revealing a beautiful machine. "See Jak, I built you a new zoomer, made especially for two." She batted her eyelashes.

Jak beamed. His greedy fingers stroked the shiny finish.

Daxter nodded her approval.

"Want to take it for a test drive?" Keira asked. She leaned against the side of the vehicle, striking a pose.

Jak nodded and turned to Daxter. He held out his hand. Daxter stared at him like he had grown another head.

"What, you think you can take me on another of your crazy adventures? Look what happened to me last time!" Daxter protested, planting her hands on her hips.

Jak then unleashed the most dangerous weapon in his arsenal, his pout.

"Ah, don't, no. Damn it, Jak. Fine, but if you get us killed, I'll kill ya," she said.

Jak mounted the vehicle, waiting for his companion to climb on behind him. Daxter sighed and adjusted her hands around Jak's middle. She looked over at Keira. "You know what this thing needs? Seatbelts. Great big—Aaaahhh!"

Jak pressed the gas and the zoomer shot forward. It sped away carrying its two erstwhile passengers to new territory.

Keira watched the two of them go, her chest tightening. That was not how that was supposed to go. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "Daddy, do you think it's wise leaving Jak alone with a girl?"

Samos gave her a wry grin. "You had wanted to go and you're a girl, Keira."

Keira stamped her foot, acting like a willful child and she did not care. "That's different, Daddy!"

Old Samos just chuckled. "It's not as if Daxter's a real girl anyway."

He was right, but Keira knew that didn't matter. For Keira it was the first sign of what she had always suspected, that given a choice between her and Daxter, Jak would always chose Daxter. Although her doubts started then, she only officially admitted it to herself about fourteen months into her stay at Haven City.

The admission didn't sadden her as much as she thought it would, time and distance had dampened her crush but not her concern. Jak was her friend and she was worried. She had talked to clients and spectators, hoping to hear something. But the name "Jak" fell on deaf ears. She learned more than she ever wanted to know about Haven City's inner workings but nothing about the others from Sandover. Keira hoped that wherever Jak was that Daxter was with him. Being mute in Haven City was a detriment and Jak would need a voice and a friend.

She sighed and pulled on a welding helmet. "Come back soon, guys," she mumbled and picked up her torch.

* * *

"What crawled up her ass and died?" Daxter asked. The twosome had just finished talking to Krew's "client" and she had not been very friendly. 

"Krew," Jak replied.

Daxter shrugged. "Yeah, tons of fun isn't my idea of a good pal, either," she said. She glanced over at their newly acquired Jet-board. "So are we test-driving this thing?"

They entered an arena in the stadium designed like a skate park. On one side was a bulletin board with a point challenge. Tricks were rated according to points and then tabulated for an overall score. Daxter felt confident that they could beat it.

"No, I am," Jak said.

The redhead pouted. "How come you get to do all the cool stuff?" she asked.

Jak grinned. "'Cause I'm the hero." He took off on the board for the arena. The blond warrior jumped, twisted and flipped with amazing grace. Daxter watched from the side, clapping her hands with each trick.

Jak did a few practice runs before doing an official trial. Daxter's prediction came true and Jak easily beat the score. When he came back to the sidelines and dismounted, Daxter snatched the Jet-board.

"Now it's my turn." Before Jak could protest, Daxter sailed out onto the course and immediately fell on her ass. Not everyone was as uber-athletic as Jak and balance was going to be a problem. Jak started to rush out onto the course but Daxter held up a hand. "I've got it, big guy." She got to her feet and tried again. This time was much easier. She did a few practice swoops around the arena getting a feel for the Jet-board. "This is pretty sweet, Jak!" Daxter called out.

"Are you going to do anything or are you just playing with it?" Jak taunted.

Daxter responded with a rude gesture and a grin. She risked trying a few turns and flips, clinging too hard to the Jet-board to stay on. She did pretty well although none of her tricks were nearly as spectacular as Jak's. She looked up at the scoreboard and was surprised to see that she had also beaten the goal number. "Yes! The Ottsel strikes again. Grr," she said.

Jak shook his head and pulled her into a one-armed hug. He plucked the Jet-board from Daxter with his free hand. "Hey! I'm not done with that!" Daxter protested.

"We've got a mission, remember?" Jak asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Daxter muttered.

The two of them headed back for the workshop. "Did she remind you of anyone?" Jak asked after a moment.

Daxter walked faster to keep pace with the long legged blond. "No, why?"

Jak shrugged. "No reason."

* * *

Keira had just finished her welding when she heard footsteps approach the workshop. She looked up at the electronic tally-board and was surprised to see that both of them had beaten the challenge. Despite herself, she was impressed. 

"We're back," the man said.

And she wasn't happy about it. Keira thought that maybe she could stall them until they lost interest. She said, "Yeah, well anyone can get lucky. I have work to do so why don't you go beat some people up or whatever it is you do for Krew. I'm on a deadline."

"Are you always this difficult?" the man said.

She saw the female figure twitch and for the first time, she spoke. "Let me handle this. Lady, we beat your stupid challenge. The least you can do is stop being a rude little—"

Keira perked up. That voice sounded so familiar. Could it be? "Daxter?" she called out.

"And we don't—" The woman paused in mid-tirade. "Yeah?"

Keira pushed the green curtain aside. Although time had taken its toll, she could recognize the faces of Jak and Daxter. She cried out with joy and pulled the startled twosome into a hug. "Daxter, it is you! I was starting to think I'd never see you guys again!"

"Keira?" Daxter asked. The redhead had found herself squished between the mechanic's soft body and Jak's hard muscles and she liked it! She tried to hide the leer on her face. Yes, she had missed Keira and was glad to see her but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

Keira pulled back to look the two of them over. Daxter had definitely grown up in her time away but she still had the bucktooth smile. Jak on the other hand seemed very different. His face had filled out, becoming harder and more chiseled. His hair was long and he had a scruffy goatee on his chin. Jak had also grown more muscular.

She felt lame saying it, but it was all she could think of. "Jak, you've changed."

"It's been a rough ride," he said. That was an understatement.

Daxter took it upon herself to clarify, casually leaning against Jak. "The Baron pumped old Jakkie boy here full of Dark Eco. Nasty stuff. Good for the hero gig, not so good on the temper. So now we're doing the whole rampaging revenge thing. Not too lucrative but it's personally satisfying." She made a face and pinched her thumb and forefingers together, drawing them from her chin to pantomime a goatee.

Keira smirked. Apparently Daxter shared her negative opinion on the facial hair. She asked, "How long?"

"Two years, just busted him out yesterday," Daxter said.

Keira was shocked. She wasn't the only one dealing with Haven City alone. But she was still suspicious about a certain Underworld figure and what Jak and Daxter were doing with him. "So why are you working for Krew?"

Daxter floundered, waving her hands around. "We're not. Sort of, not really."

"We're trying to get information about the Baron. We're really working for the Underground," Jak explained.

That was easier to accept and made more sense from what Keira knew about the two of them. She still had to be honest about her feelings. "Okay, but I'm not happy about it," Keira said.

"Trust me, neither are we," Daxter muttered.

That put a smile on Keira's face. Precursors, she had missed them. "We've got so much to catch up on," she said.

"Well, what are you doing tonight, sweetcheeks? Jak and I are going to be at the Hip Hog," Daxter said. She wrapped an arm around Keira's shoulder. "I've got an in with one of the waitresses there. Free booze, babe." Daxter winked.

Although Keira paid Krew for protection she had never actually gone to his headquarters/bar. She shook her head and pushed Daxter off. "Not tonight, I've got to finish tuning up this zoomer for Erol," she said.

All the emotion drained from Jak's face. Daxter looked nervous and there was something that Keira couldn't identify in her eyes. Keira felt something in her stomach twist and became very frightened.

Daxter grabbed Keira's forearm and led her away from the fuming Jak. "Listen babe, Erol and Jak have some history. Bad stuff; don't want to go there. But you might want to be careful around him. Erol's bad news," Daxter said.

"How bad news?" Keira asked.

Daxter opened her mouth and then closed it, uncertain what to say. She gazed down at her feet for a moment before looking up at the mechanic. "Just trust me on this, okay?" she asked.

Keira had never seen Daxter like this and she didn't like it. Erol had been a lucrative client, but she had enough business that she could afford to let him go. Besides, these were her friends and even though the two years had changed them all, she still trusted them. "Okay, I'll fix the zoomer and tell him to find another mechanic," Keira said.

Daxter beamed in relief. "Thanks, sweetcheeks," she said and kissed Keira's cheek.

Keira playfully swatted Daxter's head and the redhead rubbed the sore spot, a fake pout on her lips.

They went back over to Jak who looked as though he had calmed down a little.

The mechanic cleared her throat. "You guys should come in early tomorrow for practice. There's a Class Three race at 11:00," she said.

"And we care why?" Daxter asked.

Keira put a hand on her hip. "Well you said that Krew wanted you to race and if you win the Class One Race you get a tour of the Palace. But to get there you have to win the lower division races," she said.

Understanding dawned on Jak's face. "And the Baron's at the Palace."

"Exactly," Keira said.

Daxter smirked. "Keira baby, has anyone told you you're a genius lately? 'Cause you are."

"We'd better get going. It was good to see you, Keira," Jak said.

"Good to see you too. Have you heard anything about Daddy?" Keira asked.

Jak and Daxter shared a look. "We thought he was with you," Jak said.

Keira shook her head. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. "We'll find him," Jak said.

"We know people in the Underground and the Underworld. We'll spread the word. See if Old Green Stuff's popped up anywhere," Daxter reassured.

"Thank you," Keira said.

Jak and Daxter nodded and left the stadium. Keira waved after them, sad to see them go.

She headed for her curtain when she heard a hesitant knock on the outside of her workshop. "Come in."

Duran poked his head in, a basket in his hand.

Keira's stomach growled. When was the last time she had eaten? "I forgot again," she said.

"Are you all right?" Duran asked, referring to the strangers. His eyebrows were furrowed together in concern, giving him the appearance of a worried puppy.

"Don't worry, they're old friends of mine," Keira said.

"From before?" Duran had heard stories about Keira's life in Sandover. She hadn't given him too many details but he felt that he knew enough. If the two strangers were from Sandover, then they had to be safe.

Keira nodded.

"Okay." Duran set the basket on the workbench and turned to go.

"Hey," Keira said, realizing she didn't want to be alone. "Do you want to share it with me?"

Duran beamed and started to set a table.

* * *

A/N 

This is going to be a billion years long; I can foresee this. This is already longer than the longest fanfic I've ever written (The Devil Went Up to Canada for the BNL fandom) and it's longer than the full-length screenplays that I've written. I'm either a devoted fan or completely nuts. I haven't determined which yet. And why does this site hate my attempts at paragraph breaks? Why?


	10. Chapter 9: Competition

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

Sorry about the delays, I had some writer's block paired with working at a flower shop/Hallmark over the Valentine's Day weekend. :spazzes: Hopefully, this is a nice offering for everyone who enjoys this story.

* * *

Chapter 9: Competition

After leaving the stadium, Jak and Daxter headed back to the Underground. Once there, they were assigned another task. Daxter hoped it would be the last one today, she was getting tired and Jak looked a little peaked as well.

"This mission is going to require stealth and cunning," Torn said.

"So why'd you come to us?" Jak asked.

Torn scowled and Daxter rolled her eyes. "'Cause I'm the best, big guy," Daxter said. At Jak's incredulous look, she jerked her thumb at the Underground Leader. "Ask him."

Torn groaned and spoke as if someone was pulling his teeth out. "It's true, she's one of the best we've got."

Daxter beamed with pride.

He ignored her. "Right. I want you to take care of an ammo dump we've I.D.'d in the Fortress. There are lots of Krimzon Guards on constant patrol. We know it's vulnerable and we need you to blow up all the ammo you find inside," Torn ordered. He tossed them a pack with explosives. "It should only take a few. Maybe even one if you place it carefully."

"You got it, chieferino," Daxter said, ending with a mock salute.

"Keep it quiet," Torn said. He pointed at Jak. "And I mean you, Jak. Remember just one wrong move and you're out."

Ten Minutes Later

The duo crept inside the Fortress, using a route that Daxter had become familiar with during her numerous missions for the Underground. Having done this more times than she could count, Daxter took the lead in spite of Jak's objections. They ducked down passageways and across roofs, hugging the walls and keeping to the few shadows that the afternoon lent them.

Avoiding the Krimzon Guards was fairly easy, thanks to Daxter's experience and Jak's athleticism.

As they searched the compound they became more and more frustrated as the ammo dump eluded them. Daxter wondered if there really was one. "We don't have all day," she muttered.

"Maybe if we start pushing buttons," Jak suggested, indicating a door-opening panel. His finger reached for a bright shiny button.

Daxter shook her head in panic. "Don't touch that!"

Too late. A massive door about twenty feet away rolled up revealing a huge security tank. The tank rumbled forward toward the pair. Daxter felt her knees stiffen in terror. Her jaw worked up and down stuttering, "Jak."

Jak grasped her wrist and pulled her behind him. She was jerked out of her fright and found herself dashing alongside the blond warrior. The tank fired, striking a nearby building. Plaster and brick fell down around the pair as they continued to run. Daxter closed her eyes against the debris and when she opened them she couldn't see Jak. "Jak?" There was no answer.

The tank fired another shot and she screamed, ducking out of the way. She rushed forward, trying to elude the tank. What she didn't know was that Jak was not that far ahead of her.

The warrior ducked into an open doorway that was sheltered from the security tank. As Daxter ran past, he snagged her arm and pulled her in with him. He pressed her up against the wall and cupped a hand over her mouth. They stood there with locked eyes, one calm, the other filled with silent panic. The sound of the tank came closer and the redhead squirmed. Jak shook his head and they waited.

Moments passed.

The ground shook as the tank approached, knocking something off the wall.

The tank rolled past the doorway, continuing down the courtyard until it was out of sight. They sighed in relief. They were safe, if only for a while.

When Jak released her, the first thing out of Daxter's mouth was, "The hell kind of stealth is that? You keep that up and I'll lose all my street cred." She stepped away from Jak and looked around. Several large storage units were laid out along the side of a loading dock. Stamped on the sides of the crates were familiar looking symbols. Daxter raised an eyebrow. "I think that's our ammo dump," she said.

She set down her bag with explosives and started pulling out bombs. Jak stood by the open window near the back and was surprised to hear footsteps. "Dax," he whispered, waving her over. Daxter went over to him and Jak gestured to the window. They both peered out and were surprised at what they saw.

There were two Krimzon Guards talking with two Metalheads. The Metalheads were grasping large barrels and snarling at the Guardsmen. One of the Guards spoke, "These barrels are the latest shipment of Eco. The Baron says to take them and get out!"

The creatures growled and the Krimzon Guards cocked their rifles.

Jak looked at Daxter. "Metalheads in the city? And why are the Guards giving them Eco?" he asked.

"Well it ain't to impress the ladies, I can tell you that," Daxter snapped.

"We'd better tell the Underground," Jak said.

Daxter nodded. "Yeah, old sourpuss will need to know. First though—" Daxter held up a circular bomb, a grin on her face. "Want to blow something up?"

Torn had been right, one strategically placed bomb was all it took to destroy the ammo dump. The others they planted were just for fun.

Jak and Daxter sat on the edge of a roof watching the show. From a distance the fireballs looked fantastic as they hurtled through the darkening sky. The bright orange flared against the dark blue night and faded away. They clapped and commented on the best ones like children watching fireworks. It was nice being together and outside like the old days. Although Haven City was more polluted than Sandover, up on the rooftops the air smelled fine. As the last of the bombs detonated, Jak turned to his friend.

"We should probably head back," Jak said.

"Yeah," Daxter agreed. She bit her lower lip. "But can we stay out here for just a couple more minutes?"

Jak just smiled. "Okay."

They stayed for a time neither could figure out just enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. It was louder and brighter than their home, but there was something below the filthy surface that spoke of the grandeur and hope the stone and concrete once held. Perhaps with the Baron gone and the Metalheads defeated that feeling would grow stronger.

When they went back to the Underground and told Torn what they had seen, he called in his spies for some reconnaissance work. He had been disturbed by the news and even more disturbed that his information network had not discovered it first. Torn knew that he had some work ahead of him. He thanked the newly dubbed (by Daxter) demolition duo and dismissed them for the night.

They trudged back to Daxter's apartment pleasantly weary after a long day of missions. They hardly spoke a word to each other as they prepared for bed; they were just too tired. And once again, the routine that had established itself back in Sandover continued when Jak snuck into Daxter's bed just as she was about to fall asleep. And once again, Daxter did not object and pretended like it had never happened.

* * *

They woke early the next morning and had a quick meal before heading to the stadium. They didn't actually own a zoomer so once again they "borrowed" one from a slow to move citizen. Jak drove as, for some reason, he had a hard time relinquishing control to Daxter. She wasn't sure why, although she had a few ideas. One, it was a safety issue and Jak felt more comfortable if he was the one making the decisions. Or two, he really liked having Daxter clinging to his waist as he zoomed at ridiculously dangerous speeds around the city. 

They dismounted at the stadium steps, not really caring where they parked. If the zoomer was missing when they came back then they would just take another one. Two years ago, Jak and Daxter would have been appalled at their casual attitude toward thievery but now it was the standard.

The demolition duo climbed up the stairs and headed toward Keira's workshop. As they rounded the corner and Daxter saw the one man she had hoped to avoid ever seeing again. "Crap, it's Erol," the redhead said. Daxter gripped Jak's arm, noting how his muscles tightened under her fingers.

"Well, if it isn't the Dark Eco Freak," Erol said. His eyes slid over to Daxter. "And his little girlfriend. I bet no one's been as good as me, not even Jak. I'm a tough act to follow."

Daxter rolled her eyes and snapped, "Oh yeah, it was so thrilling I don't even remember it."

Erol smiled, nonplussed at her comment. He stalked closer to the pair, invading that invisible line of personal space. "I can help you remember. I'm always up for a repeat performance and I'll make sure you're sober this time," he said. He reached forward to touch Daxter's cheek when Jak's hand smacked him away.

Purple electricity crackled around Jak's fingers and his nails were far too long. Daxter looked up in alarm. Jak had not transformed into Dark Jak but the other was struggling to get to the surface. Daxter shifted her grip on his arms to hold them down. She tried to sound casual, but could not keep the fear out of her voice. "Jak, buddy? Don't freak out on me, okay? We don't want to do any cleanup, right?"

Erol smirked. "He's a monster, little girl, just like me. But unlike him, I have the balls to take what I want."

Daxter flinched. The way he looked at her made her feel filthy and she didn't know why. All she knew was that she had to get Erol out of here before Jak did something they would all regret.

Suddenly, Keira burst through the door of her workshop. "Get out!" she shouted, pointing at Erol.

The Captain, the warrior and the sidekick turned their heads at her unexpected intrusion. "Keira?" Jak asked. Daxter was relieved to see that he was back to normal.

"Get out, you pig!" the mechanic yelled. When Erol didn't move, Keira raised her wrench and threw it at him. "NOW!"

Erol ducked out of the way. His face twisted with anger. "What about my racer?"

"You'll get your racer but don't ever come back here!" she screamed.

Erol pointed a finger at her. "You won't ever work again. I can promise you that," he said.

"Get out!"

Erol stood there for a moment, determining his options. Keira, Jak and Daxter all glared at him, daring him to try anything. Erol heard footsteps from behind him and saw an angry Duran welding a wicked looking nailgun. Considering he was outnumbered, Erol chose a strategic retreat. He pointed a finger at Jak. "See you on the track, Eco Freak," he said and strode off.

Keira panted, trying to catch her breath and control her rage.

Daxter turned her nervous gaze to the other woman. "Hey, remind me never to piss you off. Wow," she joked. When Keira didn't respond, Daxter sighed. She scratched her head. "How much did you hear?" the redhead asked, not sure if she really wanted an answer.

"Enough," Keira said. "I can't believe—he's such a—"

"Bastard?" Jak supplied.

"Yes," Keira said. She noticed Duran and waved him over. His timing had been impeccable. She wasn't sure if Erol would have backed off without the presence of an actual weapon.

The shy young man came right to her side. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.

The mechanic smiled. "We are now," she said. "Hey, my nailgun!"

Duran handed the heavy tool to her. His cheeks had a touch of red to them. "Thank you for letting me use it. It was a bi-big help."

Jak and Daxter raised their eyebrows. This was new. Daxter coughed into her hand and produced a teasing grin. "So who's your friend, Keira?" Daxter asked.

Keira flustered at her own rudeness. "Oh, Duran this is Jak and Daxter. Jak, Daxter, this is Duran."

Jak and Duran grasped hands and sized each other up. Duran was a clear-eyed young man with a firm grip. The handshake hinted at his strength without attempting to overpower. Jak approved. "Hi," he said.

Daxter looked the newcomer over and noting his coveralls asked, "So are you a grease monkey too, pal?"

"I'm just an apprentice," Duran replied. "I work with Gaius on the other side of the stadium."

Daxter nodded. "So I bet Keira's teaching you a lot—"

Keira wrapped an arm around Daxter's neck and clamped her hand over the younger woman's mouth. "I'm sorry, Duran, we have to prep for the Class Three Race," Keira said.

Duran looked down at his feet for a second, the disappointment obvious in his voice. "Okay. I should be getting back anyway."

"I'll catch up with you later if that's all right," Keira offered. Duran's smile was all the answer she needed.

As soon as the older man was out of sight, Keira released Daxter. "I can't believe you," she hissed.

"What? I didn't do anything. Sheesh," Daxter said, crossing her arms.

"We'd better get down to the track. The race starts in a few hours," Jak said.

Keira led the way, eager to redirect their energies elsewhere.

* * *

At the practice course they decided that Jak should ride for the race. Although Daxter could now drive, Jak had more experience with timed courses. So that was how the two women found themselves sitting on a bench by the sidelines, watching Jak zoom past them. Each time he made a lap, Keira would call out the time. After a while, Daxter spoke.

"Keira," She started. When Keira turned to look at her, Daxter started running her hands through her hair in embarrassment. "I, uh . . . I don't think I ever thanked you for the sleepover back when we were home."

The mechanic was surprised, but pleased at the unexpected thanks.

"I mean if it hadn't been for you and Tess—Not that I couldn't have handled being a girl on my own or anything."

Keira just nodded, it was kinder not to damage the redhead's pride.

"But you two helped. A lot," Daxter admitted. "So thanks."

"You're welcome," Keira said. She was curious about this other person Daxter mentioned. "Who's Tess?"

"Tess?" Daxter said, obviously warming up to a favorite subject. "Oh Tess is gorgeous. Body like you wouldn't believe, it just goes on forever. Rrawr. Hot. And smart too, you wouldn't think it but the things she does with a mod gun—" Daxter made some hand gestures that polite company would consider obscene.

Keira decided to alter the subject a little. "How'd you meet?"

"Outside a bar. Some jerk was harassing her so I stood up for her. You know I still make a pretty intimidating figure." Daxter flexed her muscles.

Keira rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I saved her butt and she saved mine. Been friends ever since." A wistful smile played across Daxter's face.

"So you like her then?" Keira asked, trying to get to the heart of the matter.

"Who wouldn't? You'd have to be brain-dead not to like her," Daxter replied. She placed her head on her hands. "She deserves a good man—"

"You're a good man," Keira offered.

Daxter snorted. "Hate to break it to you sweetcheeks but I haven't been a man for a couple of years. I'm a little rusty at it." She then straightened up and brushed some imaginary fuzz off her shirt. "But not that rusty. Once I turn back to my manly self I'll be a babe magnet again in no time."

So Daxter hadn't changed quite as much as Keira had thought over the past two years. She still remembered Daxter's denial the day of her transformation and how she had held onto it even after she had given up the chance to be normal in order to save the world. Keira wondered how long the younger woman could hold onto it.

Daxter smiled. "Besides, she thinks of me as a little sister. Where'd you think I got the threads?"

"I wondered," Keira admitted.

The redhead pinched the sleeve of her shirt, offering it to Keira for a feel. "Nice, huh?"

"Yes," Keira said, rubbing the fabric. It was an inexpensive but comfortable material, ideal for a young mercenary.

"Speaking of threads you haven't changed your look much." Daxter looked her up and down. "Your pants are longer."

"The city's a lot dirtier than Sandover," Keira said.

Daxter nodded. "I hear you, I hear you."

Jak zoomed by and Keira called out the time. Once Jak was out of earshot, which was less than a few seconds, Daxter turned to Keira. "So this Duran guy—"

Keira interrupted a little too quickly, "He's just a friend."

Daxter rolled her eyes. "Right. Sure."

The mechanic was determined not to rise to the bait. They lapsed into silence.

Keira called out the time as Jak flew past again. She nodded in approval. Jak was good, very good when he was alone on the track. The mechanic wondered how he would hold up against the other racers, especially Erol.

Erol had been a champion racer several years ago but had gone into retirement once he became Captain of the Krimzon Guard. No one had ever thought he would come back to the track but one day last year he reappeared with intensity that he had never had before. He blew the competition away, both figuratively and literally, reclaiming his championship title again and again.

Keira had seen him race time after time and knew that if anyone would be a challenge for Jak, it would be him. And that was aside from Jak's personal vendetta against him, not to mention Daxter. Just thinking about that made her furious all over again.

Keira was not a stupid woman and it was obvious that Erol had done something to Daxter. Between the way Erol was swaggering and the terse words Daxter had spoken she could guess what it was. How could he hurt her friends that way? Keira looked over at the redhead.

Daxter didn't seem too bothered by what had happened that morning, but Keira wondered how much Daxter was holding back.

Before she could say anything, Jak pulled off the course. "How'd I do?" he asked.

"Great. We still have some time before the race so I'm just going to do a quick tune-up. I'll meet you down there," Keira said.

A half hour later and the stadium filled with anxious spectators. Food vendors hocked their wares and others sold binoculars or merchandise featuring popular racers. The atmosphere was electric and no one was unaffected. Keira and Daxter made some minor adjustments to Jak's racing gear, making him look as snazzy as possible.

Before Jak went out on the track, Keira gave him one piece of advice. "Erol likes to taunt his opponents before a race to psych them out. Whatever he says don't listen to him."

"Yeah, big guy. You'll get a shot at him, just not now. You got to wait so we can kick his ass together, right?" Daxter said.

Jak nodded. "Right."

As Jak approached the starting gate, he noticed that his spot was right next to Erol's. The Krimzon Guard grinned at him, his racing mask titled up onto his forehead.

Jak resisted the urge to punch that smug face.

Erol turned away from Jak and scanned the audience. He spotted Keira and Daxter. His grin widened. "Quite a little following you have there," he said.

Jak ignored him. He knew that he would have a chance at Erol but as Daxter had said, he needed to be patient. He straddled his zoomer and began preparing himself. Seeing that Jak was not paying attention, Erol proceeded to do his own warm-ups.

A cackling voice came over the loud speaker announcing the racers and building up the importance of this preliminary round. Jak tuned the voice out and focused on visualizing the race itself. His mind plotted out the course he would take and he saw himself at the finish line. There, Keira and Daxter would be there to greet him. They would hug him and make a fuss over him, hailing the conquering hero. And maybe, just maybe, he would have the courage to try what he did in the prison on Daxter again.

The countdown started. The racers leaned forward on their vehicles, hands gripping the handlebars. The sound of revving engines filled the air. The crowd cheered and called out the names of their favorites. Among the voices, Jak could swear he heard "Jak! Jak!"

"Jak," Erol taunted. Jak shook himself from his fantasies turned to look at his tormentor. "You know that since you're free she's fair game."

Jak's eyes narrowed. He wouldn't dare.

The Krimzon Guard grinned. "Once you're dead I'll just have to 'comfort' her myself, as many times and in as many positions as she wants. It won't take much to get her screaming my name." Erol pushed his mask down over his face.

The blond snarled in fury. He remembered what Keira had said, but this was Daxter and Erol had already hurt her once. He couldn't let that monster touch her again.

The light shifted from red to yellow.

Screw patience, he was going to kill the bastard.

Green.

And they were off.

The six racers took off like a shot. The different colors of their zoomers blended together as they sped through the narrow course. The course itself had numerous dangers: tight turns, sudden jumps, missing sections of track, not to mention the other racers. Jak had his hands full as he tried to keep himself in the race without getting killed. He leaned into the turns with his machine; feeling like it was an extension of his own body. Keira did amazing work.

Wind rushed through his hair as he leaned forward to cut air resistance. He was grateful for the goggles over his eyes. At these speeds, who knew what the hell would fly into them.

The first lap was pretty standard, the racers trying to get a feel for the road and for each other. Jak was in the top three the entire time, occasionally losing ground to Erol or to the racer in the green zoomer before catching up with them again. The audience's ohs and ahs spurred the competitors on, knowing that fame awaited the winner.

It was during the second lap that things got interesting.

One racer took a turn too tightly and the front of his zoomer clipped the wall. Metal tore and shrieked as he attempted to regain control. The other racers dodged the shrapnel that flew at them from the damaged zoomer. Luckily they were on a straight path so it wasn't too much of a problem. Suddenly, a bolt flew loose, taking part of the steering controls with it. He spun out from the line and smashed into a wall, exploding in a ball of flame. The crowd went wild.

Daxter gasped. "Holy Precursors."

Keira winced. "It happens almost every race. Poor guy," she said.

The other racers kept going. A minor thing like death couldn't hold them back.

"That'll be you next time, Jak!" Erol shouted over the din.

The blond let that go, knowing that if he got angry now Erol's prophecy would come true. Instead, he eased on the throttle as he crested a jump, just to make sure he didn't skew off course and smack into something. He could hear encouragement from Keira and Daxter as he passed by their seats. He waved and continued driving.

The racers rounded the third lap and Jak found himself right next to Erol. The other racer didn't spare him a glance as he punched up the throttle. Jak mimicked the movement, keeping pace with the Krimzon Guard. Erol twisted, smashing the side of his zoomer into Jak's.

Jak hissed as he was nearly thrown off-balance. So this was the way he wanted to play. Jak returned the favor and was satisfied to hear Erol growling over the roar of the engines. They continued this way, smacking their vehicles into each other, blocking the path so no one could pass them.

They were going around the final corner to the home stretch. Jak knew what he had to do. He cut the accelerator for a second, drawing back. Then he gunned it for ramming speed. He struck Erol's zoomer right by the handles and sent the other racer swerving to the side. Erol quickly regained control, but it was more than enough for Jak to take the lead and cross the black-and-white checkered finish.

"And the winner is . . . Jak!" the announcer called out. The crowd thrummed with excitement. For the first time in a year, someone had beaten Erol. His dominance of the racetrack had become synonymous in the minds of the multitude with the Baron's control over the city. If Erol could lose then there was hope for change.

Jak dismounted his zoomer and waited for Keira and Daxter. They did not disappoint.

Keira gave the warrior a hug. "Great job, Jak! I knew you could do it."

He returned the hug, feeling a brief moment of nostalgia for when they were children. When they were very young, the three of them would wrestle and play without a care in the world. When they grew older, Jak drifted toward adventuring, Keira toward her workshop and Daxter drifted to tagging along with Jak. But Jak knew that those early days were far behind them.

Daxter just stood there with a massive grin on her face. "You sure tore up that track buddy. Bam! Making them eat your dust," she said, her hands flying in wild gestures. She babbled at him, her excited words filling the air. She recreated parts of the race through pantomime, occasionally bumping into another zoomer, aka Keira, during her act. Keira smiled and cried out every time Daxter bumped her; she had missed everyone too.

Jak looked over Daxter's head and saw the Krimzon Guard Captain staring at them. Jak reached forward and wrapped a protective arm around Daxter's shoulders, hugging her to him. She glanced up at him for a moment, a little confused before continuing her conversation, although her movements were severely hindered.

Erol scowled at them now and Jak felt like he had accomplished his objective. He squeezed Daxter closer to him, a gesture meant to say one thing: back off. As long as Daxter was under Jak's watch Erol wasn't getting near her. The Captain stalked off the field to sulk about his second place trophy.

A loud beeping interrupted the group. Daxter scowled and fished the communicator out of her pants. "Ugh, it's Torn. Sorry toots, hate to race and run but we've got business to take care of," she said.

"That's okay. Duran and I will take care of the zoomer," Keira replied. "I'll keep you informed on when the next race is."

"The demolition duo is back on the job," Daxter said. "Let's go, buddy."

Jak and Daxter headed out of the stadium, Jak deep in thought. He regretted not being able to take care of Erol on the track but in the long run this way might be better. He liked taunting Erol like the older man had tortured him for two years.

The first year had jabs at his inability to scream as the Dark Eco burned through his system. Erol had taken great pleasure in asking how the boy was and then yelling when he couldn't answer. But the second year had been worse. Jak could handle the interrogations about his home and where he came from. He could handle the occasional slap or broken finger. He could also handle being tossed into the obstacle course and running it over after hour until he collapsed from exhaustion. What he couldn't handle was Daxter.

Every night before he would go to sleep Erol would come to his cell regaling him with stories of the night in the bar. The Captain described everything in excruciating detail leaving nothing to Jak's imagination. And when Erol ran out of stories, he turned to fantasies. Growing up in Sandover, Jak never imagined someone being that cruel and indifferent to another's suffering. It was during one of these sessions that Jak made the decision that would change his life. He would kill the Baron and Erol for doing this to him, for hurting Daxter to get to him and for the dark fire that sang in his veins. He would kill them both, their screams and suffering ringing in his ears for all eternity. And that suited Jak just fine.

* * *

A/N

I noticed from the game script that Erol wasn't really crazy until Jak 3 but man he was a nasty vindictive bastard in Jak 2. I hope I managed to capture some of that. :)


	11. Chapter 10: Vin

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work. This is a slightly edited version to correct mistakes/make stuff make more sense and I took out the direct reference to Damas. God, I need a Beta.

A/N

I want to thank everyone for the reviews, comments and criticisms. What I like about questions and critique is that it forces me to examine motives for characterization or presentation or to reevaluate a problem or a mistake that I made in writing. I appreciate it and it helps make me a better writer. It also makes for a better story, which in the end is the most important thing.

* * *

Chapter 10: Vin

The conversation over the communicator was brief. "One of the Baron's mining operations is under attack by the Metalheads," Torn said.

"That's not our problem," Jak said, still flying high from the racing win.

Torn snapped, "It is our problem when the foreman's one of the Underground's best informants. His name is Vin, and he's just valuable enough to save. Find the warp gate at the Power Station and use it to travel to the Strip Mine so you can rescue Vin's pathetic hide."

Daxter snagged the communicator from Jak. "Hey, Tattooed Wonder, how come we get all the crappy missions?"

Torn enunciated each word. "Because I don't like you."

Daxter grinned. "That's not what you were telling us yesterday."

She heard him groan over the static. "Look, whatever deal the Baron made with the Metalheads is draining the city's eco. I don't know how much longer he'll be able to hold them off."

"We'll get your guy out," Jak reassured him. He turned off the communicator and handed it back to Daxter. She clipped it back to her pants.

"To the Power Station?" she asked.

Jak nodded and they left the stadium. Their zoomer was still there so they hopped on board. Neither of them had been to the Power Station yet, so Daxter relied on the map Torn transferred to her communicator.

As they neared their destination, Daxter noticed that this was a part of the city she had never seen before. It wasn't as dirty as the slums but it had a cold, metallic appearance. The red coloration on the walls did nothing to minimize the effect. There were several ramps that led to a boardwalk high above the ground.

Jak pulled onto one of the ramps and they cruised the sky road, avoiding Krimzon Guards and pedestrians. They came upon a door with a lightning bolt symbol and dismounted. Jak approached the door and it opened for him. Daxter scampered behind him, keeping an eye out for intruders.

Inside of the Power Station was a shimmering warp gate. It looked like the ones from back home.

"Huh," Daxter mumbled in disappointment.

"What is it?" Jak asked.

Daxter shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought it'd be futuristic and stuff. It looks the same as all the others we've ever seen." Daxter poked the side of the gate and looked up at Jak. "Yup, same stuff. Wonder if I can kick it?"

"Dax," Jak warned. She just grinned at him and they went through the warp gate.

The Strip Mines were as unattractive as they expected. Decades of picking and mining had left ugly gouges in the stone that cast dark shadows along the floor. There were few lights and they were dimming lower and lower. Soon the cavern would be cast into darkness. Luckily, they didn't have to travel far.

There was a small building with a red button on it near the warp gate. Jak pressed it and the doors slid open.

Inside was a laboratory and a skinny man, presumably a scientist, fiddling away with the controls muttering to himself. As the door hissed open he turned to face them. The man was thin with white hair and glasses. The suspenders he wore contributed to his scholarly, or nerdy as Daxter thought, appearance. His reaction to his rescuers was heartfelt.

He screamed. "Aaaaaah! Stay back!"

The skinny man drew a small pistol and began firing at Jak and Daxter. They ducked back out of the doorway, bullets whizzing by their heads. That didn't go as well as planned.

Daxter looked at Jak with pleading eyes. "Do something, Jak! This guy's nuts!"

Jak leaned back against the wall and called out. "Hey, are you Vin? We're here to help. Torn sent us."

"Stay back!" Vin shrieked, firing more bullets.

Jak growled under his breath. "Look, if we were here to kill you we would have done it already."

The scientist stopped firing. He popped his head out the door. "Oh, friendlies? Oh, thank goodness." He stepped outside and looked around. "So, uh, where's the army?"

Jak and Daxter shot each other an incredulous look. Daxter said, "We're it, buddy."

"What?" Vin cried out. "Just you two? The Shadow just sent you two? What do they think I'm worth?"

"I'm starting to wonder," Jak muttered to himself. "You can stay here and be Metalmeat, but Daxter and I are leaving before those monsters get back."

"Monsters?" Vin yelped.

The demolition duo ignored him and leapt through the warp gate. Vin followed after them, tripping as he did so.

Once they were back inside the Power Station and away from any possible Metalhead interference, Jak asked a simple question. "Who's the Shadow?"

"Shadow?" Vin asked, knees still trembling.

Jak sighed. "You mentioned him earlier."

"Oh, he's the leader of the Underground," Vin said.

Daxter shook her head. "Right, who's Torn then? The Underground Errand Boy?"

Vin explained, "He's the Commander, but the Shadow's the one that calls the shots. Torn runs the day-to-day operations."

"Torn's not a big picture guy, huh?" Daxter asked.

Vin twitched. "Oh no, he's good but he couldn't run an operation this size. He used to be the Captain of the Krimzon Guard but—"

"He what?" Jak snapped.

Vin shrank away from him. "What, what did I say?" he stuttered.

Daxter's eyes widened. This was unexpected. She planted herself between her partner and the scientist. "Back up here, Torn was a Krimzon Guard?"

Vin nodded, too terrified to say anything.

Daxter felt a hand grasp her arm. Jak jerked her to him, his eyes blazing with fury. ""Did you know?" he asked. She shook her head. Jak relaxed his grip and his face cleared. "We need to talk to him. Now."

"Okay, big guy. Mind not crushing the merchandise?' Daxter joked. As he released her arm Daxter made a mental note to not piss Jak off for the rest of the day.

On their way to Underground Headquarters, they swung by home to pick up their guns. Although Daxter thought that allowing an agitated Jak near a weapon was a stupid idea she went along with it. On the off chance that Jak didn't do something stupid they might get another job and she didn't want to be unprepared.

The second the zoomer stopped, Jak launched himself off of it and stormed down the stairs to the Headquarters. It was all Daxter could do to keep up with him.

As usual, Torn was the only one in and he was at his command desk. Jak marched right up to it and slammed his fists down. Papers flew in all directions.

"Why didn't you tell us you were Krimzon Guard?" Jak asked.

Torn shot him a level gaze. "It wasn't important."

"Not important!" Jak roared. Purple electricity danced around his narrowed eyes. Daxter moved forward to diffuse the situation but Jak's arm shot out and shoved her back.

Torn was not intimidated. "I left the Guard years ago. It doesn't matter anymore. "

"Torn—" Jak growled, his eyes turning black.

"I never hurt you, Jak," Torn said, his voice dead calm.

Jak deflated, his eyes were blue again and his skin a normal shade.

Daxter looked at Torn in awe. "How the hell'd you do that?" she asked.

Torn didn't answer her. There was something in his face that told her all she needed to know. This was a man who stared down Death on a regular basis and won. "One of my old Guard comrades was sent to the Pumping Station. There's been no word from her patrol," Torn said.

Daxter leered at Jak. "Her, huh?" Daxter asked. Jak snickered.

Torn scowled. "This is serious, Rat! I'm afraid she may need some help."

"Don't worry, we'll rescue your girlfriend," Jak said.

Torn snapped, "She's not my girlfriend!"

Daxter leaned against the table. "But you wish she was," she taunted.

Torn grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her off the floor. "I wouldn't be talking, Rat," he spat out through gritted teeth.

Daxter swatted at his hands. She let out an indignant squawk. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Torn dropped her and she crumpled into a heap on the floor.

Jak laughed and helped her up. Daxter brushed herself off. "You don't mess with the sugar," she said.

"Just go to the damn Pumping Station before I kick you out," Torn snarled.

Daxter held up placating hands and rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, don't get your panties in a bunch. Let's go, Jak."

The two of them left Underground Headquarters, ready for another mission.

* * *

They reached the Pumping Station in record time as luck was with them and no one had stolen their zoomer yet. There were no Guards around so gaining access to the site was easy. Once inside, they hauled themselves up the Pumping Station platforms, Daxter grumbling all the while. "What the hell are we doing risking our necks out here for? Torn should save his own damn girlfriend. She'd better be hot after all this trouble."

Finally, they reached a high clearing near the top of the Station. Daxter lowered her goggles and looked around. Jak just used his unaided eyes as they had been sharpened by the Dark Eco treatments. He pointed to the side. "Over there."

Daxter swung her gaze to where Jak was pointing. The woman had her back to them and what a back it was. Her red, blue and black uniform clung to her body like a second skin. Her fiery hair was pulled back in dreadlocks that cascaded over her shoulders. "Hello, lady," she murmured. As the woman turned around, fear overcame Daxter's lust. "Ah crap, hide me Jak!" Daxter howled and ducked behind the blond.

Jak raised an eyebrow. This was odd, Daxter never ran from women.

The Krimzon Guard detected them and walked over, gun in hand. The gun was much smaller than Jak's or Daxter's but still held an aura of power.

"Who the hell are you?" she snarled.

"Torn sent us," Jak replied.

The woman's eyes narrowed as she noticed Daxter's cowering form.

"You," she hissed.

"Lady, it was nothing personal," Daxter said, maneuvering Jak to keep him between her and the older woman.

"You nearly killed me!" she shouted.

Daxter dodged out of the way as the other woman swiped at her. "Hey Good-Looking, it wasn't my fault you decided to take a moonlight stroll with the weapons of mass destruction."

"Can I ask what's going on here?" Jak asked.

"No," the woman snarled.

Loud chittering noises filled the air. The three of them paused to listen. The Krimzon Guard pulled out her gun. "We've got company," she said.

Suddenly a group of Metalheads jumped into the clearing. Jak and Daxter were ready in an instant, guns blazing. They moved together so they were back to back, taking the creatures out from all sides. As they fought, the twosome risked glances at the female Krimzon Guard. Her small weapon packed a massive punch, as did her fists and feet. She launched herself into the air and smashed into a Metalhead with her foot, sending it flying. This woman was much tougher than the Krimzon Guards Jak and Daxter had seen.

If it was true that the rest of her squad was dead, then it was obvious why she was the only survivor. The battle was over in minutes and Metalhead corpses littered the ground. Jak stood over the fallen blobs of Dark Eco, allowing his body to absorb it.

The woman led them to a vehicle that awaited her.

"Since we took out those mean nasty Metalheads for you, are we even babe?" Daxter asked.

The woman scowled over her shoulder. "For now," the woman said. "And don't call me babe if you don't want me to rip your lungs out."

Daxter pumped her hands in the air. "Yes! You hear that, Jak? I've still got a way with the ladies." Jak sighed and shook his head. Daxter continued, "So how about those digits babe so I can look you up sometime? We'll party hard in the city. I've even got the place!"

The woman, as most people did, ignored Daxter. She turned to Jak. "Tell Torn that Baron Praxis is up to something. I think it has to do with that symbol."

She indicated a stump in the clearing that had a strange symbol on it. Jak was certain he had seen it somewhere before.

"What is it?" Jak asked.

"The Seal of the House of Mar, the founder of Haven City. The Baron and Erol have been sending us on suicide missions trying to find artifacts from the time of his rule," the woman said. An angry scowl crossed her face as she said this. "There's a blind soothsayer in the bazaar named Onin. She might have more information for you."

The woman mounted her vehicle and gunned the engine. It rose, kicking dust and dirt into the air.

"What's your name, sexy?" Daxter asked. She gave the older woman a cheeky smile. "I like to know the people I almost blow up."

The woman looked at Jak. "Is she on medication?" Jak shook his head. The woman scoffed. "My name is Ashelin," she said.

Daxter bowed. "A beautiful name for a gorgeous woman in uniform. Did I tell you how much I adore a woman in uniform?"

Ashelin rolled her eyes. "Can't you muzzle her?" she asked Jak.

"I wish I could," Jak replied.

Daxter frowned at her partner. He just smiled and mock punched her shoulder.

As Ashelin flew away she called out, "Tell Torn thanks."

And they did. Torn responded with his own thanks, a touch of red on his cheeks. Jak and Daxter exchanged knowing glances but chose not to comment. They asked him about the mysterious Shadow but the Commander told them it was impossible to meet with him. Things were too dangerous right now, but in time they could meet the Underground Leader.

Over the next several weeks Jak and Daxter continued their work for the Underground. The cause was gaining momentum and the name "Jak" circulated as an image of hope. The twosome kept their ears to the ground learning about the Baron's fears and weaknesses. They also wanted to discover the connection between the Eco shipments and the Metalheads but they never got very far.

What they did know was quite interesting. There was a small boy rumored to be the true ruler of Haven City. He was the son of the last King. The boy had disappeared shortly after Baron Praxis staged a military coup removing Damas from power. No one knew what happened to the boy, but there was a child who would wander the city who Torn believed was the heir to the throne.

When Torn had finally caught up with the boy, he had him taken to Headquarters. Then he called in his most trusted agents. As they weren't available, he called his most dangerous agents, Jak and Daxter.

"I want you two to take the kid to Kor at the Power Station," Torn said. He gestured to a small green-haired boy in overalls who stood by his desk. Busy tearing up a small backpack was a green Crocodog. Torn continued, "He's important to the cause but we don't have the facilities to baby-sit him."

"But we do?" Daxter asked.

"Just take the kid," Torn ordered.

The child walked forward, his little hands outstretched and gripped Daxter's pant leg. He looked up at Jak with a shy smile. An odd sense of familiarity stole over the blond warrior.

Daxter sighed. "Let's get this over with."

The three of them and the Crocodog walked through the town toward the Power Station. The kid tottered along ahead of them, his faithful pet at his heels.

"Great, why are we babysitting this kid again?" Daxter muttered.

"'Cause Torn told us to," Jak replied.

"Right," Daxter said.

They hadn't encountered any trouble yet, much to their relief. As they approached the ramps leading up to the boardwalk, a squad of Krimzon Guards approached them. The kid ran back to the demolition duo and grabbed Daxter's leg.

"This is a restricted area. You must vacate the premises now!" one of the Guards ordered.

"Since when?" Daxter asked.

The Krimzon Guard swung his gun around and shoved it in her face. "Since now."

Daxter raised her hands. "Hey, no need to get all commando on us," she said.

One of the other Krimzon Guards spotted the green-haired boy. "Hey, it's the kid the Baron wants!" He reached forward to snatch the kid when Daxter stepped in his way. The Guard shoved her to the side and that was when all hell broke loose.

Jak screeched as his darker half rose to the surface. The black horns poked through the stark white hair and Dark Eco crackled in the air. The Krimzon Guards froze in terror. In the squad rooms the Guards had heard stories about the dark beast that roamed the city and decimated the soldiers. Now they were face to face with it.

Daxter grabbed the kid and they ducked into a crawl space next to the ramps. She shoved the kid in first and moved in after him, shielding him with her body. The redhead wrapped her arms around him, holding the child close. Daxter stroked the kid's hair trying to keep him calm. He didn't squirm and he didn't cry. He just clutched her shirt, burying his face in her shoulder.

Outside the crawl space she could hear metal tear and screams of anguish. Loud roars and cries for help assaulted her ears. Daxter tried to sooth the child as best she could. "It's all right. It'll be okay," she murmured.

After what seemed like forever, the screaming stopped. Daxter loosened her hold and the child and listened. Nothing. No sound at all. She frowned. That wasn't good at all. She thought for sure Jak would say that it was okay to come out or something. There was no way to know what was happening unless she went outside. Daxter bit her lower lip, making a decision.

She turned to the kid. "Listen, I've got to go outside for a minute," she said. The kid looked up at her with terrified eyes. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'm just checking things out. So, you'll stay here. If I'm not back in ten minutes or if I don't tell you it's okay to come out," Daxter said. She thought for a second before giving the rest of her instructions. "Run like hell."

Before the child could make any sort of protest, verbal or otherwise, Daxter exited the crawl space and surveyed the carnage. The Crocodog was just outside guarding the entrance. Daxter reached down and scratched its head. "Good boy. Stay with the kid," she muttered before taking her first good look.

Giant splatters of blood covered the area and the scattered bodies of the Krimzon Guard were scattered all over the ground. She gulped to hold back her lunch and approached one of the bodies. As she came nearer, she noticed that the Guard was breathing. It was swallow, but he was still alive. Daxter looked at the others. They were also breathing. They were unconscious but that didn't matter to Daxter. What mattered was that they were still alive. Even after everything Jak was keeping his promise.

But if the Krimzon Guard were here, then where was Jak?

Warm breath stirred the hair on the back of her head. Daxter flipped around and found herself face to face with the Dark Eco creature. Since those first times in the prison, Daxter had seen Jak transform at least a dozen times. He would lose control on some Krimzon Guards or Metalheads and when he was done he would turn back to normal. "You didn't turn back," she muttered.

Daxter took an involuntary step backward. Dark Jak studied her with those unreadable black eyes. The redhead swallowed and she ran.

Dark Jak howled in outrage and raced after her. Daxter dashed away, determined to keep this as far away from the kid as she could.

Suddenly, he pounced. A great weight crushed into Daxter, sending her tumbling to the ground. Two massive arms reached around her chest and hauled her to a sitting position. She could feel the creature's claws poke into the sides of her arms. Not enough to tear fabric or flesh, but as a warning not to move.

Dark Jak was going something behind her she couldn't see, but she could feel him moving. Then he did something truly odd, he buried his nose in her hair and sniffed. While she was very glad that she was not being torn limb from limb it was still an uncomfortable situation. "Jak," she whined, squirming in the creature's grip.

The Dark Eco creature growled and hugged her tight to him and nuzzled the back of her neck, careful not to let the horns scrap her. After a moment she could hear Dark Jak's breathing slow and the heartbeat against her back beat at a normal rate. The muscular arms wrapped around her shrank and the skin went back to a normal shade.

She turned in his arms to look and was pleased to see the familiar blond staring back at her. "You scared the hell out of me, big guy."

Jak said, "I'm sorry." He pulled away from Daxter, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Yeah, well that doesn't cut it when tall, dark and gruesome comes out to play," Daxter said.

Jak frowned, an edge of anger in his voice. "I said I was sorry."

"Screw your sorrys!" Daxter shouted. "I could have been—" She stopped. She couldn't say it, not with Jak looking at her like that.

"You were really scared," Jak said.

"Gee, what gave you that idea? Was it before or after I nearly pissed my pants?" Daxter asked. The smirk on her face took the sting out of the words.

Jak gripped her shoulder. "You know I'd never hurt you, right?"

Daxter took longer than she should have answering the question. Before she would have answered without hesitation but now that Dark Jak was in the picture, things were more uncertain. She had seen the violence he was capable of first-hand. But then again, after that first time he had never killed anyone. Sure, people got hurt, that was expected, but no one had died. That alone was a testament to Jak's strength of character. "Yeah, I know," she said.

Jak smiled and pulled her into a real hug, not the crushing embrace of the Dark Eco Creature. Daxter laughed and shoved him away. "Stop trying to smother me, we've got a job to do."

They went back to the crawl space and retrieved the boy. Daxter placed a hand over his eyes and directed him past the Krimzon Guards. No need to traumatize the kid any more than he already was.

When they reached the Power Station, Kor was waiting for them. He was an old man with white hair, large eyes and a walking stick. He wasn't quite what they were expecting. "Torn told us to bring the kid to you," Daxter said.

Kor nodded. "Yes, I'll be sure to keep him close." He gestured to the child and the green-haired boy walked over to him.

The boy looked back over his shoulder at Jak and Daxter, a sad expression on his face. The Crocodog growled at Kor, snarling at his ankles.

"How sweet," Kor muttered.

Jak reached down to stroke the animal and the Crocodog calmed. He barked and licked the blond warrior's face.

Kor stroked his chin. "Interesting. That insufferable mutt never liked anyone but the boy before."

The child smiled at that and nodded.

"I guess I'm just good with animals," Jak said.

Remembering the many times she and Jak had to herd Yakcows, Daxter snickered.

"I hope we have enough Eco to keep the Metal Heads at bay. During my travels in the deep Wasteland I saw some of the bigger ones. Awesome creatures," Kor commented.

Daxter said, "Yeah, I saw some like that at the Pumping Station. And there was this big one coming out of a rift once. He was ugly. I mean Metalheads are ugly anyway but this guy was—"

Kor scowled and interrupted. "I have some information for you. The Baron is conducting an excavation at the Dig. He is still looking for that ridiculous Tomb."

"Tomb?" Jak asked.

"The Tomb of Mar," Kor said.

Jak let this sink in. Ashelin had mentioned Mar when they rescued her at the Pumping Station. Apparently, whatever Mar did in the past was something that the Baron wanted in the present.

The mystery of Mar's tomb would need to be explored but that was for later. Right now, Daxter wanted a shower, food and to hang out with Jak and the girls for a while. The duo left the Power Station and trudged back to their apartment.

"You know," Daxter said. "The kid kind of reminds me of you."

Jak raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Real quiet, never says anything. But he's got this smile that makes you never want to leave. It makes you want to do things for him, no matter how stupid they are," Daxter said.

This was interesting; Daxter hated kids. The fact that she responded to this one meant something. He teased, "Like going to Misty Island?"

Daxter rolled her eyes. "Especially like going to that stupid island," she said. "I never would have gone if you hadn't pulled that stupid 'you're my best friend' face."

"Yeah," Jak admitted. "But then the world would have ended."

"How the hell do you figure that?" Daxter asked.

"If we hadn't gone to Misty Island then we wouldn't have figured out that something was going on with the Lurkers until it was too late," Jak said.

Daxter frowned. "Could I have not been turned into a girl?"

Jak contemplated this for all of three seconds. "Yes."

"Damn it!" Daxter complained. She shoved him. "You suck, Jak. I want you to know that."

"Well, you suck too," Jak said and shoved her back. Soon they were in the middle of a grappling match in the middle of the city streets. Luckily, they were close to home and there were no Guards in sight. They pushed and tickled and laughed until, as always, Daxter was forced to surrender. As Jak dragged the smaller woman back up to their apartment, Daxter realized something. Things were falling into a routine, into a new definition of normal. Of course life was not the same as before, it was changing and evolving. And Daxter was starting to learn that she could live with that.

* * *


	12. Chapter 11: Unexpected

Jak and Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

A/N

Hi, I apologize for the delay. I was having some writer's block and was lured by the bright shininess of Final Fantasy VII. Aaaah, the pretty.

* * *

Chapter 11: Unexpected

The next morning they headed out to the bazaar in the hopes of meeting with the mysterious Onin. The marketplace was filled with people walking to and fro peering at all of the unique items the venders were selling. A shopkeeper and a customer haggled for prices at a jewelry booth, while an older woman tested the quality of the fabric at another. It was a vibrant place, more alive than most of the dirty cold city.

Toward the back of the courtyard was a tent with some strange pottery out front. It was the only one of its kind. Jak and Daxter exchanged a look. If there was a mystic to be found, it was likely there. They entered the tent, uncertain of what would await them.

Inside was a blind old woman with a large floppy hat. She wasn't quite what they expected. The rest of the room was filled with exotic objects that they had never seen before. That was a bit more like it.

Daxter poked at a strange creature that looked like a cross between a monkey and a parrot that hung from a hook. "Cool, check out this dead thing," she said.

Her finger pressed against its belly and the monkaw screeched. "Ow, touch the goods again bucky girl and you'll be," the creature let out an odd keening bird noise. "Counting with your toes!" The monkaw flew over to the old woman and perched on top of her hat.

Jak and Daxter wondered if that was the hat's true purpose or if it was just convenient.

The monkaw bowed. "I am Pecker!" At the incredulous looks he received the monkaw continued. "Yes, yes, I know, my mother, she was very vindictive. I am Onin's interpreter." He fluffed his wings, obviously impressed with himself.

The old woman, Onin as it turned out, twisted her hands in the air, creating magical auras with a grace that belied her age. Her movements were so entrancing that the duo almost didn't hear what the bird-creature was saying.

"Onin welcomes you, blah, blah, blah. The usual boring salutations. She says it is good to see you again, Jak," Pecker said.

Jak and Daxter looked at each other. Jak shook his head. "But we've never met before."

Pecker flapped his wings in an impatient gesture. "Before, after, it's all the same."

Tired of the bird's sense of self-importance, Daxter did what any immature teenager would do; she mocked him. "Oh, oh, let me try!" She put a hand to her forehead as if she was concentrating. "I see she wants . . . a yakcow bone! No, a yakcow bladder. Perhaps a sandwich." Jak tried to contain his laughter. The monkaw was not amused. Daxter continued, "For many moon she has waited for a juice pop? A jewel shop? Maybe a hard coc—"

"Close but no!" Pecker interrupted. "Onin says you seek answers about the Tomb of Mar." He broke up and scratched himself with his beak.

"So what do we need to know?" Jak asked. He wondered if Daxter would have been nearly as annoying if she had been turned into an animal instead of a woman.

Onin's fingers twirled and colors rose and fell with her stirring the air. Pecker tossed his head back and forth. "She's going on and on about mystical energy channels, evils curses and stupid-o crap. Forget that, you are cutting into my siesta time. Onin wants you to recover three artifacts from the Precursor Mountain Temple. Not two! Not four! Three!"

"We can count, feather brain," Daxter snapped.

"Oh," Pecker squawked. "I couldn't tell. I just thought they used your face for a bottle opener."

Daxter drew back her fist but Jak caught her. It would look really foolish if she punched out an oversized bird.

"Now get out of here. I have more important things to do than to talk to hero boy and bucked-tooth Betty," Pecker scowled. He turned, fluffed himself once more and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Daxter shook with fury as they exited the tent. "Can you believe that guy? Who does he think he is?" she ranted. "Jeez, and he was loud too, really loud. You ever meet anyone that loud before?"

Jak smirked. "I can think of someone."

Daxter turned her head. "Really?"

Before Jak could stick his foot in his mouth, Daxter's communicator beeped. She answered, "Hello."

"Daxter it's me," a familiar female voice said.

A huge grin spread across Daxter's face. "Tess, baby. Did you miss me?"

There was a giggle over the line. "Of course I did, silly. Krew has a job for you."

Daxter groaned. "Right." She looked at her partner. "So you want to go junk hunting or play with tons of fun?" she asked Jak.

"The artifacts will be there. Krew might die of a heart attack if we keep him waiting," Jak said.

Daxter smiled, "We'll be right there, baby." She turned the communicator off.

A couple of minutes later, they were at the Hip Hog Haven talking to the corpulent entrepreneur.

"I have a shipment of explosives I need you to drop off for one of my clients," Krew said. "They've paid handsomely for it and I want to make sure it gets to them intact. It promises to be a lucrative collaboration and I will not take any chances."

"So you want the best, right?" Daxter asked.

"Don't flatter yourself, Rat. You two are good but not irreplaceable," Krew snapped. He fanned himself frantically, attempting to cool the sweat pooling on his face. "Ask for Jinx, he's my paying client. Take them to the cargo," he ordered, gesturing at Sig.

The dark-skinned man led them to a two-seater zoomer with a flat bed in the back. Nearby was a large crate, presumably the cargo. Jak and Sig strapped the crate to the flat bed, making it as secure as possible. Jak then took the driver's seat, leaving shotgun to Daxter. Sig gave them a quick salute and left them to their task.

The heroes zoomed through the city, obeying the traffic laws to keep out of trouble. This was an important assignment and neither one of them wanted to deal with the Krimzon Guard. Following the electronic map Krew had given them, Jak and Daxter found themselves wading deeper and deeper into the slums. Daxter wondered if they would ever have missions in the nice part of the city.

In the back of an alley next to some large metal doors were their customers. Two blond men had their backs turned to the approaching heroes. It looked like they were working on a vehicle.

Daxter jumped out of the zoomer and sauntered up to the pair. "Hey, one of you guys Jinx? We got your stuff," she said.

One of the blondes turned, a cigar poking out of his mouth. "Set it over there, squirt," he said, jerking a thumb to the side.

Daxter scowled and looked over at the other blond. She opened her mouth to snap back a reply when the other blond turned around as well. The retort never made it past Daxter's lips. Her jaw hinged open in shock. The blond stared back at her with the same kind of amazement.

After a moment, she found her voice. "Hal?" she asked.

The blond male smiled. "Daxter?"

Forgetting all social courtesy, the redhead launched herself at Hal, and wrapped her skinny arms around him, tugging him into a tight hug. "You're alive, you're alive!" she babbled.

Hal laughed and spun the young woman around, her feet lifting from the ground for a few moments. Daxter giggled at the feel of wind rushing past her face. This was amazing; Hal was alive! Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest. The Pariah had been her saving grace that first year in Haven and the news of their demise had been devastating. Seeing the dead walk again felt like a miracle. A second miracle really, when she thought about it. The first was rescuing Jak.

When she was able to stand up on her own two feet again, she looked over at Jak. He was staring at the little reunion with an unreadable expression on his face. Daxter coughed and straightened herself back up. Note to self, stop acting like a squealing schoolgirl. "Good to see you, buddy," she said, clapping Hal on the back. Daxter then jerked her head toward Jak and led Hal to her best friend.

"Jak, this is Hal. Hal, Jak," she introduced.

Hal quirked an eyebrow as he shook the other blond's hand. "You're Jak, huh? So the Rat actually busted you out?" he asked.

"You've heard of me?" Jak asked, letting down his guard.

Hal snorted. "Sure, you were pretty much all that Daxter talked about," he said. Daxter scowled and swatted the taller man on the arm. Hal yelped and glared at the redhead. "The hell was that for?"

"Hey, are you jackasses gonna help me with this or not?" Jinx snarled.

Jak turned to ask Daxter for assistance but she was already back to chatting with Hal. He resisted the urge to snap at his younger friend, she looked too happy to yell at her. The blond warrior sighed and went to the zoomer to help Jinx.

"Krew didn't tell us you'd be here," Daxter said.

"That's 'cause he doesn't know. The Guard might still be after us, so I'm keeping a low profile," Hal explained.

"Keeping it under the radar, huh? Staying away from prying eyes?" Daxter nodded, it made sense and it was the kind of thing Turk would approve of. "What about the rest of the crew? They hiding out too?" she asked.

"Stif's dead. Bullet tore right through him during the first volley. Turk and I got out. Have no idea about Gurn. I hope he's okay but who knows," Hal said, shrugging his shoulders.

Her stomach dropped a little at the news of Stif's death. Even though she hadn't been close with him, Stif had been her link to Jak, the first link of information she had heard since coming to Haven City. She had been hoping that since Hal was running around that the others would be okay. That was at least one person not coming to a reunion and it sounded as if Gurn's fate were also in doubt. Daxter asked, "So where's Turk?"

"He's a wastelander. Thought he'd like it better."

Daxter frowned. "I thought he didn't want to deal with Metalheads."

The bitter smile on Hal's face said it all. "The KG changed his mind."

Before Daxter could ask any more questions, Jak's voice cut through the air.

"Daxter we've got to go!" Jak called out.

The zoomer had been unloaded and Jinx was glaring at the two idlers. Daxter refrained from telling the explosive expert to buzz off; she was talking to a long lost buddy here. She opted for tact instead.

"Right," Daxter said, waving at her partner. She turned her attention back to Hal. "Hey, I've got an in at the Hip Hog. You can come tonight and we'll both get smashed."

"Can't tonight, got to work. But give me your frequency," Hal said.

The two of them took out their communicators and exchanged numbers. "We'll do it on a night Krew's not there," Daxter said. "Free booze, Blondie."

"I can still drink you under the table, Rat," Hal said with a tinge of challenge.

"I'd like to see you try," Daxter said, a grin on her face.

"Daxter!" Jak called out.

This time, Daxter heeded the call and raced for the zoomer. She climbed in next to Jak, buckling herself in. She reached up to wave goodbye when the zoomer rushed forward, jerking her back into the seat. "What was that for?" she asked.

Jak didn't answer.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the duo. Daxter thought to say something funny to break the tension but nothing was coming. She had no idea why Jak looked so upset, or what had made him feel that way. As she was about to give up conversation as a lost cause, Jak spoke.

"Daxter?"

"Yeah?" the redhead replied.

Jak pulled the zoomer to a stop at the side of the road. "Why didn't you act that excited to see me?" Jak asked.

Daxter shook her head and blinked. The question was absurd. "What? When?"

"When you busted me out of prison," Jak said.

Daxter snorted. "Jak I was excited. Hell I was more than excited, I was practically pissing my pants but we were in a prison. I couldn't exactly throw you a 'Welcome Home' Party in Cellblock C." She made a goofy face, imitating Jak. "'Hey, shouldn't we be trying to escape?' 'Nah, let's party!'" Daxter did some jerky little dance moves to emphasize the point.

Jak wasn't impressed.

Daxter sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I thought he was dead, okay? I had been told that the whole damn Pariah group was pushing up daisies and then one day I find out that one of my pals is alive. Alive and knows what happened to the others. I spent a year with those guys. They taught me a lot, you get close to people like that," she said.

"What about me?" Jak asked.

"It was always about you, Jak. Hell, they were another way of finding out what happened to you. But they were my friends too. I didn't get that until it was too late," Daxter said. She felt her face tinge with red. She hated talking about this kind of mushy stuff. "Besides, I knew you were alive."

Jak looked over at Daxter, "The reports?"

"Yeah, but I also knew here," Daxter said, pointing to her chest. At Jak's incredulous look Daxter scowled. "Ha ha, laugh it up, big guy. Look, I knew bad stuff was happening to you, but that you'd be okay in the end. Know why? 'Cause I'd find you."

Jak was shocked at the simple statement of faith. "You believed that?"

"Sure, didn't you?" Daxter asked.

Jak looked down in shame. "There was a time when I didn't," he admitted.

"Oh," Daxter said and looked away.

It was true, after Erol had burst into the testing chambers bragging about bedding Daxter Jak had lost hope. He knew that if Daxter had gone after him, Erol would be able to hurt her again. Jak felt it would be better if she just stayed away, found her own life so she wouldn't have to see what he had become.

But to be completely honest with himself, Jak also believed that Daxter couldn't do it. Daxter wasn't a skilled warrior, or a strategist. The idea of her storming the prison and carrying him off seemed far-fetched at least and ridiculous at the most. Jak figured that the second Daxter saw a Krimzon Guard she would turn tail and run. The day that Daxter had come strolling in was one of the happiest and most surprising of his life.

Daxter had changed a lot in the past two years, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. And she had come through for him, even when he had stopped believing in her.

Jak reached across the vehicle and gripped Daxter's shoulder. "I should never have doubted you Daxter," he said.

Daxter smirked, her confidence returning. "Damn straight. How can you deny this face? Huh? Huh?"

Okay, maybe Daxter hadn't changed that much. Jak started the zoomer.

"So where are we off to, big guy?" Daxter asked.

"To get those artifacts for Onin," Jak replied.

"That'll be a piece of cake."

* * *

Daxter yelped as she flew through the air right off the side of the cliff.

"Daxter!" Jak shouted, dodging the snapping claws of an irate Metalhead.

The redhead stretched her arms out as far as they would go, scrambling for any purchase by the cliff face. Her fingers snagged on a small outcropping and the glove did the rest. She hung on for dear life with one hand as she brought the other up to join it.

"Daxter!" she heard Jak scream again.

"I'm fine!" she shouted back.

There was a brief pause and the sound of scuffling. "Great!" Jak shouted. "Can you get my gun?"

Daxter gawked. "What? Why don't you use my gun?"

"I don't like your gun!" Jak called back. "Besides," he paused, still trying to fight the Metalhead hand to hand. "It's stuck up a tree."

For Jak and Daxter, retrieving the three Precursor artifacts had been an easy affair. Jumping puzzles and ancient turning mechanisms were old hat to the adventuring duo. After encountering only a few minor problems (mostly caused by Daxter overextending herself) they had made their way back toward the entrance to the city. Just before they could make a clean getaway, they had been ambushed by a very clever and dangerous Metalhead. It had made short work of Daxter and their firearms.

Now Daxter was clinging to the side of the cliff for dear life while Jak fought the creature with his bare hands.

The redhead peered down and saw that Jak's missing gun was about ten feet below her and to the right, dangling off a hanging root. If she was careful, she could, in fact, reach it. "Fine, just hold it off!" Daxter shouted.

She braced herself, remembering all the times she had scaled much smoother and trickier walls and began to move. It was slow going, Daxter had to make sure that the rock was solid so it wouldn't crumble beneath her weight. As she inched her way to Jak's gun, it occurred to Daxter that if she hadn't been wearing her gloves, she never would have risked this. Then again, she might also be dead.

She positioned herself next to the gun and reached out for it with one hand. It took a few seconds to dislodge the strap from the tangled root but it wasn't difficult. She slung the strap around her neck and started back up the cliff. As she climbed, she could hear the sounds of Jak's exertion and the Metalhead's fury.

"Hold on, Jak!" she yelled. Daxter pushed herself up and over the edge of the cliff to solid ground. At that moment, the Metalhead swatted Jak to within a few feet of the sidekick. She yanked the gun up over her head and tossed it to Jak.

He gripped the gun at the same moment the Metalhead latched onto his arm with a meaty fist. Before Jak could blink, the Metalhead twisted his wrist in a direction it was not supposed to go. The warrior's world exploded with pain. His vision darkened and focused on his shrieking nerve endings.

Daxter came forward to help but was smacked to the side by the Metalhead's other arm.

Working through his pain, Jak noted that he still had his fingers on the gun. He grimaced and pulled the trigger. The shot tore through the Metalhead's body, killing it instantly. It staggered backward, its claw releasing Jak. The stink of charred flesh rose through the air.

Daxter ran over to the wounded hero. "You okay, Jak?"

"Don't know," Jak admitted, cradling his injured hand. "We'd better get back to the Underground."

"Right," Daxter said.

Back at Underground Headquarters the news wasn't as bad as they had feared.

"It's just sprained," Torn announced after examining Jak. The Underground Commander wrapped the damaged appendage in numerous layers of tape to keep it immobile. Jak flexed his hand experimentally and winced.

"Great, so we just slab a little Green Eco on it and he'll be as good as new, right?" Daxter asked.

Torn shot her a look that would kill a medium-sized Metalhead. "Eco's scarce Rat, we can't waste any on a small injury like this," he explained.

"Small? Small?" Daxter shouted. "This is just some red-shirt Underground number cruncher, this is Jak! He practically is the Underground!"

"He just needs to keep off it for a few days, maybe a week," Torn said.

"A week?" Daxter protested.

"Are you deaf as well as stupid, Rat?" Torn asked.

Daxter scowled and opened her mouth for a raging torrent of obscenities when Daxter's communicator went off.

Beep! Beep!

Jak reached out and snagged the device off Daxter's belt. He turned it on. "Hello?" he greeted.

Keira's lovely voice piped in over the communicator, "Hi, Jak. Is Daxter there too?"

"Of course!" Daxter called out. She kept her anger in check; a lady was present, even if only in voice. "What do you need, sweetcheeks?"

"I need you guys to come in today. The Class Two Race is in two days and we need to practice," Keira said.

The blood drained from Jak and Daxter's faces. They looked at each other, the same panic echoed in the other's eyes. Daxter summed up the situation quite nicely. "Oh shit."

* * *

A/N

Is it totally wrong to be in love with that bottle opener line? Damn, that makes me laugh.


	13. Chapter 12: Danger Zone

Sorry about the wait, I have been stupidly busy with RL. This was a hard chapter to finish since I haven't played any J&D related games for over half a year now. That and I hate writing racing chapters. In other news, I have an original script being looked at by a representative for a literary agency. I am crossing my fingers on that one. :hopes, hopes:

Also, special thanks to Yaminai for the lovely gift art, you did an amazing job and I'm sorry that I wasn't writing faster so that you could get public recognition for it. And also to Ciaran Frain for writing me recently and reminding me that there are people stilling reading and waiting.

Jak and Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

>>>>>>>>

Chapter 12: Danger Zone 

"Keira, do you have any green stuff stashed somewhere?" Daxter asked.

"I'm sorry Dax. Back home it wouldn't be a problem but here," Keira sighed. She waved a hand around her workshop. "Haven isn't Sandover."

Daxter scowled. The Class Two Race was important and without a racer, Keira's team was seriously screwed. Jak couldn't perform because of his sprained wrist and it looked like they weren't going to be able to fix it the easy way. The sidekick looked around the garage and noted the racing trophies. She got an idea. "What about you, babe? Why don't you race?"

Keira shook her head. She picked up a large piece of paper. "I can't. It's on Krew's new contract." The mechanic glanced over the contract and spotted something. Her eyes widened. "But you can," she told Daxter.

"What?" Daxter shrieked.

"But Erol—" Jak protested.

"Erol's racing in another heat. He won't be racing our team," Keira said.

Daxter grinned and elbowed Jak. "Guess he got intimidated by Jak here, huh?"

"Or something," Keira muttered. She figured that Erol wanted to increase his chances of being in the final race by going against other opponents. Considering that the Class Three Race had six different groups racing at the same time, it was really just chance that landed Jak and Erol in the same heat. Keira went over to the racing zoomer and tightened a loose bolt. "We'll set you up at the practice track so you can get started. I'll join you in a couple of hours."

As Daxter turned to head for the track, the mechanic laid a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder. "It'll be okay. I know you can do this," Keira said.

"Thanks, babe," Daxter answered.

"Daxter," Jak said. The redhead turned to look at him. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Daxter thought about it for a second. "Not yet, I want to get a feel for it, you know. You can come by when Keira shows up and I can show you how racing's done."

>>>>>>>>>

Daxter ran a few laps around the track, getting a feel for the vehicle. Since she weighed less than Jak the zoomer went faster than it normally would. The drawback was that she had less control and would have to really concentrate to avoid veering off the track during a turn and smashing into a wall. 

She dismounted from the zoomer to check on a rattling sound she had heard during the last lap. Daxter frowned, placing her hands on the handlebars. Suddenly, a warm solid body pressed up against her back, a pair of masculine hands covering her own. Daxter stiffened.

An all too familiar voice purred in her ear. "Don't forget to pull the clutch when you change gears. If you don't the engine will stall out and you'll be dead in the air."

Daxter twitched away from the moist breath bathing her ear. "What do you want, Erol?" she asked, proud that she kept the tremble out of her voice.

"Just giving you some advice," Erol answered.

Daxter tried twisting out of Erol's grip, but he was too strong. She hated being so small. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I want you to win," Erol answered.

Well, that was a surprise. Daxter turned her head and raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Erol's voice was calm and collected. "I want to beat Jak in front of the entire city but I can't do that if your team doesn't qualify for the Class One Race."

The sidekick snorted. "You're a little obsessed, aren't you?"

Erol stepped closer. "I want to see Jak's body splattered all over the race track. I want to see the Underground's hopes shattered. I want to hear you screaming his name before I take you back to bed."

The captain's warm hand crept around her small waist.

Daxter slapped the offending limb. "Enough with the wandering hands!"

Erol moved closer and cupped Daxter's chin, forcing each other to see eye to eye. Fear and hostility battled on Daxter's face. If looks could kill, Erol would be chopped into tiny bits and buried underneath a ton of Lurker body waste. The Krimzon Guard smirked. "That first bit of advice was free. Any more is going to cost you."

Daxter snarled, "Don't hold your breath."

"Everything okay?"

The two of them whipped their heads around to see Duran watching them. In his hands was the nailgun.

Daxter had never been so relived to see a grease monkey in all her life. "Yeah, he was just leaving," she said, not bothering to mask the anger in her voice. Erol took that as a threat and stepped away from her.

He avoided looking at Duran as he left the stadium. "Good luck, Red," he called back over his shoulder.

Daxter punched the side of the zoomer. "I hate that guy," she muttered. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced over at Duran. "Thanks, man," she said.

"No problem. How's practice coming along?" Duran asked.

"Pretty good, I gotta hug the turns a little tight so I don't fly off but I can deal." Daxter pointed to the area by the gas pedal. "I heard this rattling noise during the last lap—"

Duran knelt by the zoomer and took out his wrench. His hands practically flew over the machine's parts, his face a tight mask of concentration. As he tightened screws and made minor adjustments his hands became covered in dark grease. Every once and a while Duran would wipe his hands against his pants, leaving black streak marks. Daxter stood back and watched, impressed at the older man's speed. Finally, Duran placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet. He reached for the ignition and flipped on the power, the vehicle purring to life. The rattle was gone.

Daxter said, "You're a lifesaver, pal."

Duran just shrugged, a little red in his cheeks.

A thought occurred to Daxter. "Hey, shouldn't you be working on your boss's bike?"

"Well, I, uh, you see," Duran's old stuttering habit reared its ugly head as he tried to explain. "My boss doesn't need the help."

The redhead smirked, "And your boss isn't as pretty as Keira."

"Right." Realizing what he said, the dark-haired man tried to cover. "I mean—"

"Durry baby, it's all right." She slung a companionable arm around Duran's shoulder. "Sheesh, lighten up a little."

"You don't mind?" Duran asked.

The sidekick shook her head. "Nah, Keira deserves a nice guy."

The dark-haired man slumped his shoulders and bit his lower lip. "But I don't know if I'm good enough."

Daxter cocked her head to the side. "Are you joking or are you that stupid?"

Duran's face went slack, he didn't understand. Daxter sighed. "You're a great guy. Hell, if you got out of those greasy coveralls once and a while you'd be crawling with chicks." Daxter straightened Duran's collar. "You'd have to have a bodyguard to make sure you didn't get mauled."

Duran shrugged out from under Daxter's arm and plopped onto the sidelines. "But I don't think she'd ever go for a guy like me."

"Not a problem, big guy," Daxter said, joining him on the ground.

"She's so perfect. Like a goddess," Duran said, his face wistful.

Daxter scoffed. "Don't let her hear you say that or she'll slug you." She knew this from personal experience. Once, Daxter had written Keira a poem. It wasn't a very good poem and much too suggestive for their tender ages, but it was a poem nonetheless. Entwined with some of the bawdier passages were messages of the untouchable and the unobtainable. In response, Keira had thrown her goggles at him. The goggles had missed, but Daxter got the message. Romance, yes. Flowery sentimental crap, no.

Duran blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, trust me on this," Daxter said.

"Well, what should I do?" Duran asked.

Daxter sighed. She couldn't figure out her own life and now this guy was asking for help. He had saved her from Erol so she figured she owed him. "What were you thinking about?"

Duran scratched the back of his head. "I thought maybe a dozen roses and some chocolate."

"Ah hell no, not with Keira," Daxter protested.

"But what's wrong?"

"Look, Keira likes romance but she's also a serious tomboy. You've got to play both sides if you want to show her she's special."

Duran's face lit up. "You're right."

"Course I am, I am an expert on the ladies after all," Daxter said.

"'Cause you are a lady?" Duran offered, trying to be helpful.

Daxter grimaced. "It's only temporary, buddy. Don't get used to it." Daxter leaned forward, one finger pointing in the air. "First off, instead of the whole dozen roses thing get her something different, something rare."

The mechanic thought for a moment. "There's a flower that grows in Haven Forest. They used to be everywhere before the Metalheads took over. Now no one sees them because no one will risk it." A sly look crossed Duran's face. "But you and Jak have faced the Metalheads before."

The sidekick frantically shook her head. "Oh no, no way," she protested, scooting away backwards.

"Please, it's my only hope," Duran whined, crawling after Daxter's flailing form.

Duran was giving her a puppy-dog face that was very hard to resist. And Daxter had to admit that she liked the guy. There were few people she knew who were worthy of her friend's attentions or who would treat Keira with the respect and adoration she deserved. Besides, it couldn't hurt to have another grease monkey hanging around.

The redhead pouted. "Fine damn it. But we're waiting until Jak gets better 'cause I'm not going in there by myself."

Duran grinned and grabbed Daxter's hand, pumping it up and down. "Deal."

Daxter grimaced and yanked her hand away. It was covered in black sludge. She wiped it on a clean spot of Duran's shirt. "Sheesh, the things I do for my friends."

>>>>>>>>

This sucked. Why Jak would ever consider racing fun was lost on Daxter. Only a lap and a half into the race and she'd been knocked into at least five times by overbearing macho meathead jerks who wanted nothing more than to send her sailing into the nearest wall. She only needed to make second place to get into the final race but she was flagging way behind. She was being too cautious and that was costing her. 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a yellow racer getting right up her ass and veering to the right. That bastard was going to be number six. Daxter sneered, no more Miss Nice Guy. As the yellow racer swung to ram into her, Daxter dropped altitude and flipped her zoomer upside down, her head just above the ground. The yellow racer just skimmed the bottom of her zoomer and banged into the racer on her left. Their fronts locked, the yellow racer piercing the other zoomer's engine. It stopped and the two zoomers dropped to the ground with a crash.

Metal flew through the air and embedded itself into the concrete bunkers surrounding the track. The two unfortunate racers limped away from their vehicles just before they exploded. It was a minor ball of fire, but enough to melt someone's face off if anyone had been too close. The roar of approval from the crowd was deafening.

Daxter thought about feeling guilty for a second but dismissed it. This was war and that jerk had just tried to do the same thing to her. Besides, now she only had three other racers to worry about.

One was way behind her so she put him out of her thoughts. There were still two ahead of her though and they formed a formidable roadblock. She gunned the engine and zipped up to them, hugging the turns to gain extra speed.

They passed the marker, Final Lap. Daxter tried to nudge her way past the other racers but they weren't having it. She knew that she was going to have to do something remarkably stupid if she was going to win this race. There was a jump coming up soon and it could make or break this race for her. Before, Daxter had been careful, cutting her speed so she wouldn't get off track. So in order to win she would have to do the exact opposite.

As she approached the ramp Daxter went full throttle, the engine under her legs screaming as she pushed its limits. The zoomer sailed off the ramp high into the air. The other zoomers were below her as Daxter jumped over their heads. She threw her body to the left and with a screech, landed just in front of the other two zoomers. The racers had to drop their speed to avoid collusion.

Daxter maintained her high speed through the straightaway and took the lead. There was no way the others could catch her now and the spectators knew it. Wild cheers greeted the sidekick as she crossed the finish line. She cut the engine and drifted to a stop. As she removed her helmet two sets of feminine arms wrapped themselves around her, pulling her into a hug. Daxter found herself sandwiched between Keira and Tess, who had apparently come to watch the race. "I can get used to this," Daxter said with a leer.

Tess giggled and the two women let go. Duran passed by them and quickly ruffled Daxter's hair before heading toward his own driver who had won second place. The redhead checked her head and was thankful to note that the mechanic's hands had been clean.

That left only Jak. Daxter smirked as the blond warrior approached. "Yeah, we showed those Class Two losers a thing or two, huh?"

Jak nodded. "Yeah, you went a little high on a couple of turns but you really hung in there. I'm proud of you, Dax," he said.

Daxter couldn't keep the pride off of her face. "Really?"

Jak clapped his good hand on her back. "You did great!"

Daxter shrugged it off, her grin almost splitting her face. "Hey, gotta learn a thing or two in the backseat, right Jakkie boy?"

"Right."

"You did good out there, Red," a harsh voice interrupted them. Jak and Daxter spun around to see Erol watching them.

The blond tensed, his hands clenching into fists. Daxter put a warning hand against Jak's chest, the last thing they needed was for him to fly off the handle.

Erol ignored the macho display. "I see you took my advice out there," he said.

Daxter snorted. "Yeah and why don't you take mine and suck it."

Erol didn't flinch. He turned to go, waving a dismissive hand. "I'll see you two losers in the Final Race."

Keira stepped in front of the heroes before they could follow. "Let him go," she said. After she was assured that they were calmed down, Keira took Daxter aside. "Hey Daxter, I've got a surprise for you."

>>>>>>>>

A week later and Jak's hand was as good as new. The demolition duo had taken on a few minor missions to keep the cash flow going but nothing that would strain Jak's health. Now that he was better, they could do that little favor for Duran. They had to hurry as Daxter's Class Two Victory Party at the Hip Hog was that evening and Daxter was not going to be late for that. 

So now they were standing outside of a portal door, waiting to go into Haven Forest. Daxter impatiently tapped her foot. "Come on, Jak, we ain't got all day!"

Jak ignored her and punched in the code to open the door. "I just want to get in and get out so I can get drunk off my—"

Daxter's voice trailed off as the world behind the city walls was revealed to them. The sidekick swallowed a lump in her throat. Jak was experiencing a similar sensation in the pit of his stomach. They stepped through the door onto the soft grass. "It's, it's like—" Daxter started.

"It's like home," Jak said.

The vibrant greenery all around them swept the dull monochromatic city from their minds. Ancient trees sprouted from the earth, giant gnarled roots breaching the earth to lay on the surface. Colorful flowers bloomed along the gently running stream. Its water was clear and clean; the air untainted by smog and blood. The only reminder of the city was the gray wall behind them.

They listened for any telltale signs of Metalheads. The only sounds that greeted their ears were the wind and the water. "Wow, this is real nice, Jak," Daxter said, her voice more hushed than normal. It seemed a shame to break the silence with Daxter's normal outbursts.

"Yeah," Jak replied. His eyes scanned the Forest, resting on a scorch mark near a rock. He walked over to it, careful not to make much noise. Jak sniffed the mark. "Metalheads," he said.

"Are they here?" Daxter asked, nervous.

"No, but they might come back so we'd better hurry," he said.

"Right," Daxter replied, more than a little disappointed that they couldn't just hang out for a while.

Jak pulled out his Jet-Board and jumped on board. He hovered over the ground, watching Daxter. "Well?" he asked.

Daxter grimaced. "All right, all right." She reached across her back and pulled out Keira's surprise, her own Jet-Board. It was smaller than Jak's and Daxter had not been able to practice using it since she got it. This was its first test run. Daxter set it on the ground and gingerly climbed on top. She remained a few inches above ground, her arms held out for balance. "Satisfied?" she asked.

Jak grinned and suddenly took off.

Daxter flailed. "Hey, wait!" She regained her balance and zoomed after Jak. The sidekick kept her knees bent and her stance low, she wasn't ready to be roadkill just yet.

Jak zipped over grass and hills like a madman. Daxter scowled. "What happened to watching for Metalheads?" she called out.

"Ah," Jak taunted. "Is Daxter scared of a few Metalheads?"

Daxter pouted, feeling all of ten again. "No."

Suddenly, Jak rushed toward her and Daxter had to dodge out of the way. Oh, it was on.

Daxter chased Jak through the underbrush, skimming over water and riding the rails of old worn bridges. The grass suffered as Daxter ripped up a handful, zipped up right next to Jak and shoved it down the back of his shirt. Jak shouted a protest and zoomed after Daxter. It was like a high-tech version of their boyhood in Sandover. Days spent running around, getting into mischief with no one to supervise or scold them. There was no Haven City, no Metalheads, no Dark Jak and no Erol. It was a simpler time, one that both of them knew could never be again. But in times like these the past could be recaptured, polished off and given new life. Daxter was quickly learning that those were the moments she savored the most.

Jak tackled her from behind and sent both of them sprawling to the grass. The Jet-Boards skated along for a few feet before tapping against a rock and stopping. Daxter scowled up at her would-be attacker. "Jak," she whined. "Get off."

"No," Jak said, a wide grin on his face.

"You suck," Daxter pouted. She lifted her head and her eyes widen. "Hey, I see that flower thing!"

Jak whipped his head around to look. "Where?"

"On top of that log," Daxter said. She wiggled an arm out to point.

Perched on top of a log straddling two giant rocks was a small clump of some of the most beautiful flowers they had ever seen. The petals were iridescent and white, a color that should not have been possible in nature. It looked delicate, like a glass lily. Jak climbed off Daxter and helped her to her feet.

"How the hell are we supposed to get up there, sprout wings and fly like Pecker-head?" Daxter asked.

"No, but I've got an idea," Jak said.

Which was how Daxter ended up perched on Jak's shoulders as he stood on the Jet-Board. "I don't think this is such a hot idea, Jak."

"Trust me."

Jak crouched down and sprang into the air. Daxter hands reached out and grabbed the underside of the log. Jak let go of Daxter, leaving her clinging to the log. Using her special gloves, Daxter clamored up the side of the log and sat down on top of it. The special flowers were now within easy reach. Up close, the flowers were even more magnificent. Basking in the light reflected off the petals, the sidekick felt a strange sense of calm. It was almost a shame to pick them. Daxter opened her small backpack and looked for the perfect flower.

"Hey Dax!"

"What?"

"Why don't you take the whole bunch?" Jak asked.

"Why?" Daxter called back.

"You said they haven't seen any inside Haven City. Maybe we could plant them," Jak suggested.

A part of Daxter felt repulsed by the idea. Nothing that ethereal could survive inside the city walls. Then again, maybe the opposite was true, that the mere flowers' presence could bring light back into the heart of the city. "Okay," Daxter said and carefully dug the flowers, roots and all out of the ground. She placed them in her bag and slung it over her shoulders. She then swung out over the side of the log and let go.

Jak's strong arms caught her and set the sidekick back on the ground. "You got them?" Jak asked.

Daxter patted the pack. "Safe and sound, big guy." She stepped lightly onto her Jet-Board. "Hurry up, we've got a party to get to."

>>>>>>

The alcohol was flowing freely and that was the way Daxter liked it. Tess was busy at the bar filling out the orders of thirsty guests who wanted to help celebrate Daxter's victory. With Krew away on some shady business deal, Daxter and her guests had the Hip Hog to themselves. Sure, the sidekick didn't know everyone or why they were really there but who cared when there was booze involved. The real puzzler had been when Ashelin had shown up to party. Of course, when she'd sidled up to Torn at a table and started chatting him up, Daxter realized what the deal was. She didn't care; in fact, she hoped that Torn would get laid and finally get that stick out of his ass. 

Daxter sipped at her drink and scanned the crowd for any more familiar faces. When a certain blond popped in through the door, Daxter raced right for him. "Hal!" she called out.

"Hey, Rat!" he called back, scooping her up into a one-armed hug. "Heard you took on some bruisers and won."

"That was nothing, you should see me in action against the Metalheads, now that's when I really kick ass," Daxter bragged, dragging him toward the bar. The two of them plopped down into some empty stools and Daxter waved Tess over. The bouncy blonde approached them with a smile.

"Hey Tess baby, this is Hal my old Pariah pal," Daxter introduced.

Tess leaned forward against the bar. "Hal, I've heard a lot about you," she said. "I'm so glad you're okay, Daxter was really worried."

"Thanks, that's good to know," Hal said.

"What'll it be?" Tess asked.

The look in his eye said exactly what Hal wanted but he kept his mouth clean. "Just a beer, thanks."

"Coming right up," Tess said, walking away with sway of her hips.

Hal grinned and elbowed Daxter's side. "Hey Rat, why didn't you tell me about the babes in the Underground?"

"'Cause I didn't want the competition," Daxter muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bar, Keira and Jak watched the action; their own drinks in hand. Keira put her head on one hand. "You know, Daxter seems to have a thing for blonds," Keira commented.

Jak spat out his drink in shock. "What?"

Keira pretended not to enjoy his reaction. "Well there's Tess and Hal and you," she said, counting on her fingers.

Jak's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Keira shrugged. "Just an observation."

Before Jak could reply he noticed Duran approaching out of the corner of his eye. "Excuse me," he told Keira and went to another table. As he passed the bar he noted that Daxter and Hal were currently engaged in a drinking contest. Oh that was going to end well.

Jak seated himself at a table where he could watch both groups. He took another sip of his drink and waited for Duran to begin his courtship. Jak couldn't hear what the older man had to say but he presented Keira with a new wrench topped with a bow and a small pot with the Haven Forest flower in it. Keira squealed with delight and pulled Duran forward by his lapels, claiming his lips in a burning kiss. Jak could see the red on Duran's cheeks from his seat. Jak raised his glass; glad that something in this crazy world could work out right. "Good for you, Duran," Jak said.

Jak felt a swell of pride in his chest. He had helped one friend now if he could only help the other . . .

Suddenly, the redheaded friend in question was in front of him. Judging by the rocking motion in her step and the smell on her breath Daxter was quite drunk and about five minutes away from passing out. She plopped herself down in the chair next to Jak. An unsteady finger poked him in the chest. "You need to drink more," Daxter said, her words as clear as they could be under the circumstances.

"I'm not done with this one," Jak said.

"Everyone needs to drink more. It's a party," Daxter insisted. She leaned back in the chair, unable to prop herself up. She raised a finger and opened her mouth to say something then paused. She looked at Jak, her focus wavering.

"What was I gonna say?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know either," Daxter replied.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the twosome. Daxter grinned. "You're a good friend, Jak."

"So are you," Jak said.

"Nah, you've always been there for me, stuck up for me," Daxter said.

"You saved my life, Dax," Jak reminded her.

Daxter squirmed. "Yeah, but I had to," she replied.

"Had to?" Jak asked.

A red flush covered Daxter's cheeks. She looked away. "Yeah, 'cause."

Anticipation coiled in Jak's belly, maybe just maybe. Jak pressed on, leaning toward her. "Why?"

Daxter looked back at him, their faces mere inches away. Their breaths mingled with each exhale. Her eyes were half-lidded, dangerously close to sleep. There was a moment's hesitation and then the drink took over. Daxter grabbed the front of Jak's shirt, her words slurred together in a mishmash of sound. "'Cause, I love you, man." She pulled him forward, stumbling as her lips connected with the side of his mouth in an awkward kiss. Jak was too shocked for his mouth to react. His hands reached up and gripped Daxter's shoulders. The redhead's kiss stopped as she slumped to the side, her eyes closed and a skewed smile on her face. "My best friend," she muttered then nuzzled into the crook of Jak's shoulder and passed out.

>>>>>>>>

Yes, I am evil. Bwahahahaha! Yes, the chapter title is a lame Kenny Loggans reference. 


	14. Chapter 13: Consequences

Ugh, this chapter was hard for me to write and was actually one of the reasons I started this exercise in the first place. First of all, I wanted to write a ridiculous scenario as sincerely and realistically as possible while also trying to teach myself how to write decent romance. It's hard I tell you so hard. . . .

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

* * *

Chapter 13: Consequences

The inside of Daxter's mouth tasted like shit. There was no other way to describe the vileness that centered on her tongue and spread out through the fleshy wetness that surrounded it. She smacked her lips together to see if that could dissipate the taste. Nope, still disgusting.

The next thing she noticed was the throbbing in her right temple. It was just painful enough to be distracting and uncomfortable but not bad enough that she could feel justified whining about it without sounding like a girl. Wait, she was a girl. Damn it.

Her stomach growled. She was hungry but it felt like a spongy lump of something had lodged itself in her gut and her throat, that odd simultaneous feeling of both hunger and nausea. Somewhere in the back of her mind an image of tea and toast formed. That sounded like the best thing in the world at that moment. Daxter wondered if she should add protein to that. She imagined some eggs next to the toast. Her stomach attempted to jump out of her body. Okay toast good, eggs bad.

Well, if she was thinking this much it must be morning. Daxter experimented with peering out from under the covers with one eye. The brightness shot a stab of pain through her temple and her stomach rolled. She snapped her eye shut and instantly the pain was gone. Fantastic, she either had a migraine or a hangover.

The bed dipped as someone sat down. A hand rested on her forehead and Daxter blinked open an eye to see a certain blond male sitting there. "Mornin'" Jak said.

Daxter groaned. She flipped over in bed. "Go die," she muttered, burying herself deeper into the covers.

Jak frowned, gripped Daxter's shoulder and flipped her on her back. Daxter flailed her arm against the light. "Jeez, Jak," she muttered.

The blond hero pulled Daxter into a sitting position. "Sit up," he ordered.

"Hell no."

"Dax."

Rather than strain her back, Daxter did what Jak asked, propping herself up with pillows. Satisfied that she wasn't going to fall over, Jak took Daxter's right hand and entwined his thumb between Daxter's thumb and pointer finger. He found a tight spot of muscle. Jak pressed down, hard.

Daxter yelped in pain. "What are you doing?"

Jak ignored the complaint. "Be quiet, Daxter and keep your eyes shut."

The sidekick pouted but did as she was told. The pressure on her palm was intense but she resisted the urge to squirm. Jak had to be doing this for some reason, right? She felt a heavy pulse in her hand as Jak cut off the blood flow. The redhead wiggled her pinky to avoid getting pins and needles. A few moments passed and Daxter noticed that the pain in her temple was ebbing away.

"Huh," Daxter muttered. She blinked an eye open, no pain. She risked opening the other eye as well. "Neat trick. Where'd you learn that?"

"Samos," Jak replied.

A slight pout turned the corner of Daxter's mouth. "Old Green Stuff never taught me that one."

Jak gave her an amused smirk, "That's because you never listened."

There was a comfortable silence for a minute as they just sat together on the bed. Daxter twitched her fingers and noticed that Jak was still holding her hand. The redhead pried Jak's hand off hers. "That's enough, you might start getting ideas," she joked. She looked up into Jak's face. He wasn't smiling. "Something wrong, big guy?"

"You did something last night," Jak said.

Daxter gave him a wary eye. "I wasn't singing, was I? I got kicked out last time I did that. Some people got no taste. This one time, I climbed on top of a table--"

Jak cut off her rambling. "Daxter, shut up."

Daxter scoffed. "Sheesh whatcha looking so grim for, I didn't kiss you or anything, right?"

"Yeah, Dax, you did." Jak said.

She wasn't expecting that. Daxter's headache threatened to come back in full force. Her stomach was rolling from nervousness and some other unidentifiable emotion. "Come on Jak, I was drunk, it doesn't count." She flopped over on her side. "'Sides I'm all hungover and I'm lying here—" Daxter picked up the bedsheet, noting that she was in her pajamas. "Why am I in my pjs?" Daxter's eyes shot open wide. She pushed herself upright. "Did you strip me last night?" she asked, an edge of panic in her voice.

"No, Tess came over—"

"Tess saw me naked and I wasn't awake for it? Precursors, I just missed the biggest moment of my life." Daxter grabbed Jak's shirtfront and shook him. "How could you let me miss that!"

Jak remained impassive; he was not going to let Daxter squirm her way out of changing the subject. "Daxter, why did you kiss me?"

More than anything she wanted to look away but there was something in his eyes that told her if she lied that he would know. Daxter tried it anyway. "I thought you were Tess?" she offered, a lame smile on her face.

Jak shook his head.

The redhead did look away. Her fingers loosened their grip and slid down into her lap. Her cheeks flushed pink. "Oh." For once in her life, she couldn't think of a thing to say.

Jak sighed and took Daxter's hands. She noticed her hands seemed dwarfed by the warrior's own. The blond opened his mouth, "You also said some things—"

"I don't want to hear it," Daxter snapped in a soft voice.

Jak blinked in surprise at her tone. He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Daxter, it's okay—"

"No, it's not!" the redhead snarled, jerking her hands away. "I'm not supposed to feel this way. I'm still a guy! I don't care what I look like, I still like drinking, I still like boobs and anyone who tells me otherwise is full of shit!" Her small fists clenched the bedsheets in anger. Daxter stared up at Jak, defiance in her eyes and in the set of her jaw.

"I've never said you weren't," Jak said, raising his voice.

"Then why're you treating me like one? Holding hands, making cute, dancing around it, why don't you fucking say what you wanna say and get this over with?" Daxter sat up straighter, pushing herself into Jak's face.

Jak could never back down from a challenge. "You want me to?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Fine!" Jak shouted. He grabbed Daxter's shoulders and jerked her forward. Their mouths collided in a painful jumble of teeth and lips. The warrior tasted blood as he realized Daxter's buckteeth had cut his lip, but he was too determined to have his heart's say to draw back. Daxter had other ideas.

Her fists smacked against Jak's muscular shoulders doing no real damage. She flattened out her palms and pushed, throwing her head to the side. Their mouths parted and Jak took it as a sign to work on the offered neck. His lips descended on the junction between neck and shoulder and he started to nibble.

Daxter gasped in a breath, her eyes fluttering. "Let go," she muttered.

"No," the blond murmured into her skin.

The sidekick shuddered. "Let go."

"Daxter—"

"No, seriously let go," Daxter whimpered, smacking at Jak's side. "I'm about ready to puke here."

Jak's eyes widened and he relinquished his grip. Daxter launched herself out of the bed, hand covering her mouth, and staggered into the bathroom. She kicked the door closed with her heel and seconds later Jak was graced with the sound of Daxter emptying the contents of her stomach.

It certainly wasn't a high point in the History of Seduction.

As Daxter spent the next several minutes regretting getting into a drinking contest with Hal, Jak wondered how much damage control he was going to have to do. Daxter was his friend; his best friend and Jak had known for some time that his affection for his younger partner was more than just brotherly. He also knew that Daxter was stubborn and very set on her ideas. Without even trying she would twist Jak's attention into another blow against her masculinity. But the redhead wasn't the only one with feelings to consider, there was also the _Other_.

Jak hated thinking about him but he couldn't deny that he was there. Over the two slow years that Dark Jak was created, Jak had retreated to his memories of Sandover to keep himself sane. As a result, the monster gestating inside him had fixated on his host's childhood and a certain redhead as a source of calm and peace. The beast shared Jak's feelings for the sidekick but they held more urgency and were more difficult to hide. Jak was able to keep Dark Jak at bay by sneaking into Daxter's bed every night, but he wasn't certain how long it would be satisfied with innocent cuddling. Besides, Jak had sacrificed so much in the past several years didn't he deserve some happiness?

The bathroom door opened and Daxter stood there, her face a little damp from washing it in the sink. She was quite disheveled, a messy mop of hair on her head, her tanktop skewed showing a slip of belly and pajama pants clinging to her slim hips. It was comical and alluring all at the same moment.

He had to touch her again.

Jak reached for Daxter's shoulder but she swatted him away. "Don't touch me, big guy, I don't feel so hot." She slumped to the side, letting the door jam support her weight.

He felt bad for pressing the issue while Daxter was not at her best, but he honestly felt that she wouldn't listen otherwise. "Daxter," he started. He took a step forward, their bodies brushing against each other. Daxter's bleary eyes stared up into his. Jak opened his mouth to say what he always wanted to say.

"Don't," Daxter pleaded.

Jak was puzzled. "Why not?"

"Don't tell me you love me or any of that mushy crap 'cause it's not true," Daxter said. Jak could see her trying her best to hold onto what scrap of dignity she had left. "There's different kinds of feelings Jak and sometimes you can get them messed up and I know this Dark Eco thing ain't helping--"

Jak frowned. "You said I was your best friend."

The corner of Daxter's mouth lifted. "You are my best friend, Jak. Doesn't matter if I'm a chick or a guy, you always will be, but this other stuff." She waved her hand around to make some gesture but it was quickly forgotten and it dropped back to her side. "It's okay though, the Eco's confusing me too, making me think things I shouldn't think."

"Why shouldn't you?" Jak asked, feeling some hope at Daxter's admission.

Daxter snorted, the answer obvious to her. "Because I'm not a girl, I just look like one."

Jak slipped an arm around Daxter's back, his hand pushing her up and forward into him. His eyes slid to half-mast, a tiny smirk curling his lip. "That's never mattered to me, Daxter." He pulled her closer, leaning his face down to meet hers.

Daxter recoiled; this was not the way things were supposed to go. Jak wasn't supposed to want to kiss her again. It was tempting though; his mouth was coming closer and closer. That strange expression from childhood was back but now Daxter could recognize a plea hidden behind it. She felt heat tingle in places she shouldn't have. She had to clear the air.

"That's bullshit!" She shoved with all her might and launched herself from Jak's grasp. She banged her hip against the doorway, sharp pain driving the lust from her body. It would bruise later. Not to be deterred, Jak grappled for her but the smaller woman ducked and evaded his grasp.

"Total bullshit," she asserted again. She needed to gain some distance, get somewhere safer, like a Metalhead den. Daxter stumbled to the other side of the room, placing the bed between herself and the warrior. It wasn't much space but it was something. The headache tried to pop up behind her eyes but she ignored the pain. This was important; she couldn't afford to lose because she was hungover.

Jak crouched to spring on the bed but Daxter held up a warning hand. He stopped, waiting for her to proceed.

"I can prove it too," Daxter said. She pointed an accusing finger, "I know about the cuddling thing."

Jak paused, a confused look on his face. "What cuddling thing?"

The redhead snorted in disgust. She knew he was just playing dumb. "You know, you sneak into my room every night and use me like a stuffed Crocodog?" she said.

"Like a what?"

Daxter rolled her eyes. She picked up a pillow and cradled it in her arms. "Like that sort of thing, Lurker Brain." She scowled at Jak "You only did that when I was a girl." She paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "And that one time, just before I found myself with a new rack and a change of plumbing! Ya just mistook me for Keira, that's all. That's why it happened the first time." Daxter clutched the pillow in triumph; she had stumped him. That should stop all this mushy stuff and they could get back to being Daxter and Jak, the Demolition Duo. And when she got back to her manly self she could forget her secret dreams and the feel of her friend's arms wrapped around her.

She knew that all Jak had to do was say that she was right and they could go back to normal. "Daxter," Jak began. She awaited his reply in anticipation. "I've been doing that since you were thirteen."

The bottom dropped out of Daxter's world. "What? You gotta be shitting me, Jak."

Jak hurried to explain. "Your parents had let you stay over and it was raining outside, it was that really bad storm, the one that knocked the trees down. You were tossing and turning, like the thunder bothered you but you weren't waking up. I thought I could help."

Daxter flushed with embarrassment. "By crawling into bed with me?"

Jak scoffed. "I was fourteen, Dax."

"Yeah and I remember being fourteen, you perv," Daxter shot back.

Jak crossed the room before Daxter could blink. She had to crane her neck to look up at the man towering above her. He was standing too close, much too close. The air was heavy with the scent of his sweat. Electricity crackled around his body, something else coming to the surface. Jak's eyes darkened. Daxter's stomach rolled. He took another step forward, crowding Daxter between the wall and his hard flesh. "I was just trying to protect you."

His hot breath fanned over her tense face. Daxter gulped for air. She was trapped, she couldn't move, and it was hard to breathe. Blood pumped in her ears as her body sought escape. "You were taking advantage of me!" Daxter screamed.

Just like that the atmosphere in the room changed. Jak stared at Daxter with hurt in his eyes. "You. . . you thought," he started. The warrior took a step back, running a hand through his hair. "Did you really think that?" he asked.

Daxter looked at the floor. There were so many ways she could answer that question. Some would think that Jak's odd behavior reminded her of Erol, but it didn't. Their relationship, strange beast that it had become, did not allow for it. Daxter sucked in a breath. "No," she said. It was one of the hardest admissions of her life. "No I don't." She sat down on the bed. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I even kind of like it."

Jak took a chance and took a seat beside her. "Then I can do it again?" Jak asked.

"Don't push your luck, big guy," Daxter said, punching his shoulder.

He grabbed his younger friend and ruffled her hair, mussing it beyond recognition as she shrieked indignities all the while. It was a stupid boy thing to do and it was just what they needed.

Jak released her and as she patted down her hair he said, "I do care about you, Dax."

Daxter shook her head. "No, you don't, not the way you think you do. You just say that 'cause I'm a chick. You won't like me when I'm a guy."

Jak pressed his suit. "I already did, Dax."

"Don't change the subject," Daxter snapped. "And I don't know if I'll like you that way, big guy. When I'm normal I'll be all about the babes again."

"You still like women, Daxter," the hero pointed out.

Daxter leered and she chortled as visions of Tess danced through her head. "Oh yeah."

"But you also like me," Jak added.

The smile slipped off Daxter's face. "It's the boobs talking, nothing else."

Jak scooted closer to Daxter. "What have I got to do to prove it to you? What do I need to say?"

The redhead thought about it for a moment. She looked him straight in the eye. "Tell me that when I'm a guy and we'll talk."

"It's a deal," Jak said. He leaned forward and pecked Daxter on the mouth. She sprang to her feet, sputtering and wiping her face.

"The hell was that?" she shouted. "No mushy stuff!"

"What about tickling?" Jak asked, a devilish grin on his face. He launched himself at Daxter who ducked out of the way.

She grabbed a chair, wielding it like a lion-tamer. "Back off Jak, keep your hands where I can see 'em!"

Before Jak could rush forward a familiar beeping sound broke the silence.

"Jak, Daxter get off your asses, you've got a mission," the not-so-pleasant voice of Torn filtered through the communicator.

"But I've got a hangover," Daxter whined.

"I don't care if you've got wumpbee fever, your first responsibility's to the Underground," Torn snapped.

Daxter muttered under breath, "Someone didn't get laid last night."

"What was that!"

"Nothing, what've got?" Jak asked.

"Our scouts have reported movement in Dead Town. Creatures are moving towards the Sacred Site, just like last time," Torn told them.

"Last time? What happened last time?" Daxter asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Torn sighed, a crackling buzz through the device. "Metalheads broke through the old city wall. We fought them, but then the Baron pulled back leaving everyone outside the New Barrier to die." Obvious resentment hardened Torn's voice. Jak wondered if that was what turned the former Krimzon Guard against his leader. "Only the Shadow stayed and somehow stopped the attack."

"And now you expect us to go out there again?" Jak guessed.

"Are you nuts?" Daxter protested. She clutched at Jak's arm, hoping he'd reconsider.

"Look, if you keep the Metalheads from reaching the Sacred Site, the Shadow will be most grateful." Torn left it hanging at that.

"If we meet the Shadow, maybe we can get some answers. We'll do it," Jak said.

Daxter groaned in defeat. "You owe us for this, Tattooed Wonder."

Torn ignored the comment. "Tess has left you some weapon upgrades outside, you're gonna need them. And hurry, I don't know how much time you've got."

* * *

To most, the Krimzon Guard Headquarters was a prison, a symbol of tyrannical oppression that was to be avoided at all costs. If a civilian found himself locked into such a place, he would likely never find his way out again. To Erol it was a sanctuary.

In a more civilized time a man like Erol would not have amounted to much. He would have been an average man with an average job whose dark desires would lurk under a thin skin, simply waiting for a time to come out. Here, his ruthlessness propelled him to the top ranks of the Guard. Erol was thankful he lived in an era that could appreciate his talents.

Erol sat in an ergonomically designed chair that somehow still managed to cause lower back pain. His finger tapped against the console as his eyes scanned the latest reports from the Metalhead front. There had been fewer in-city sightings lately but that was due to the activities of a certain golden boy and his irritating sidekick. Erol had to admit they were efficient but that would only make the inevitable fall that much sweeter.

The metal doors behind him whooshed open and Erol turned to face the intruder. It was Baron Praxis, looking polished and clean. Erol guessed that he would be making a public appearance that day.

"Captain," the Baron began, pulling out a printout from his suit, "I've noticed that you've moved the capture of this red-haired girl to a top priority." Praxis shoved the picture at Erol. "Why?"

The Captain smirked; the picture represented Daxter quite well. It was a candid shot of her shopping in the slum district. Packages bulged under one arm while the other was clenched in a fist with a provocative finger pointed toward an unseen target. Erol schooled his features. "Because her capture is instrumental in getting Jak back into the Dark Warrior Program," he answered.

Praxis was intrigued. He waved a dismissive hand. "Go on."

Erol settled into his chair, his feet propped up on an unused computer terminal. "This Daxter's harboring Jak somewhere in the slums. She's feeding him, clothing him, keeping him warm. That alone is enough to brand her a traitor."

The Baron did not look convinced. "Yes, but if this is true, wouldn't surveillance be enough?"

Erol shook his head. "No, Jak has an emotional attachment to her, they have a history." He leaned in for the kill. "She was with him when he came through the rift."

The Baron frowned. "I wasn't aware that anyone else came through."

"It was in my report, sir," Erol reminded him. It had been mentioned several times, in fact, along with theories as to how and where the portal had come from and how the mysterious "second comer" could react as an unknown variable to the Dark Eco Warrior Program. But Erol didn't want to get into it. Right now, he had to convince the Baron to expend some of his valuable resources into catching this minor criminal. Erol said, "I also suspect that she helped him escape."

"Then in that case she should be shot on sight," Praxis replied.

The Krimzon Guard frowned, that wouldn't do at all; he had plans for that girl. "No, if we capture that girl Jak will come running and the whole Underground will fall apart without him."

A strange expression crossed the Baron's face as if he had just confirmed a suspicion. "Ashelin suspects this whole thing might just be your personal agenda."

Damn that bitch for trying to interfere. Erol's voice dropped to a low growl. "She can suspect all she wants, I'm not changing my orders."

"Fine Erol, I'll indulge you this time." The Baron leaned close to Erol, their noses almost touching. "But I expect results and I won't wait forever."

"Don't worry, you won't have to," Erol said.

Praxis gave him a curt nod and spun on his heel. Erol watched him go, a neutral expression on his face. He didn't care what the Baron's daughter thought, he would find Jak and Daxter his way. And when he did, a slow grin crossed his face, he was going to play.

* * *

I'm working again so this may be the last chapter for a while. Sorry if it seems rushed. 


	15. Chapter 14: Dead Town

Once again sorry for not updating in forever but I was working on one film for five months and I immediately jumped onto another one that's going to keep me busy until the end of March. Twelve or more hour workdays do not make for creative outbursts of activity. By the way, if anyone ever tells you that movie work is glamorous, they are full of crap. BTW, I've been looking at fanart for inspiration and I really wish I could draw.

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

* * *

Chapter 14: Dead Town 

At the end of an alley in a secluded part of town was a door that led to infinite sorrows. It looked much like the other crafted metal doors that peppered Haven City, but this one opened to the hellish landscape that was Dead Town. As Jak and Daxter found, the name was all too appropriate.

Once great buildings had crumbled to dull gray stone, relics of a happier time. Giant bridges that had connected homes, businesses and schools had collapsed; leaving sullen arches that went to nowhere. Puddles of Dark Eco glowed purple and black upon the ground. Even the sun seemed to hang lower here as if weighed down by the devastation.

The Demolition Duo took this all in as they ventured into the ruins, each deep in their own thoughts. Daxter tried to pinpoint what it was about the place that made her skin crawl. Her foot crunched down on a small fragment of concrete grinding it to dust.

A low skittering sound reached Jak's ears. He tightened his grip on his gun. "Get ready," he said.

Suddenly several small Metalheads with arching stingers for tails leapt out of the soil and dashed toward them on insectile legs. Jak and Daxter flew into action, bullets danced across the ground, striking the diminutive Metalheads and sending them flying. As they landed, their head gems popped from their foreheads leaving glittering yellow jewels on the ground. The creatures themselves melted into blobs of Dark Eco. As Jak stooped to pick up a gem, the Dark Eco rolled on the ground and slapped onto his body, forcing its way in.

Daxter shuddered; she hated Dark Eco, the way it crawled, the way it seemed to have a mind of its own. She knew that she was damn lucky to have survived falling into a vat of the stuff several years ago, switched plumbing or not, and did not care to repeat the experience. Besides, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that if she had another concentrated exposure like that she would die.

"Well that was easy, can we go home now?" Daxter asked.

Jak shook his head. "Nah, those aren't the Metalheads we're looking for."

"Oh, and how do you know Mr. Smarty-Pants-Know-It-All?" Daxter asked, hands on her hips.

"Torn wouldn't have sent us if that was it," Jak replied.

Daxter pouted. She hated his logic sometimes. "Fine, but if I get killed, I'm gonna be really pissed."

Jak chuckled and pushed himself up onto a wall. Daxter followed him and the twosome navigated their way into a large structure. As they walked, an uneasy feeling crept over Daxter. She knew that in a place called "Dead Town" she was going to feel uncomfortable but this was different. Something was bothering her and she didn't know what. The problem wiggled in the back of her mind as Jak pulled her up into what used to be someone's home. The place was quiet and empty, like all of the rest of Dead Town. That's when it hit her.

"Jak?" she whined.

"What is it Dax?" Jak asked.

"There's something wrong here," Daxter said.

Jak rolled his eyes. "That's why we're here."

"No, I mean shouldn't there be stuff here?" Daxter asked.

"Daxter this place was attacked by Metalheads, everyone left," Jak explained.

"Yeah, but they would have left all their stuff, right? Where's the furniture? Where's the toys, where's the knickknacks and the other crap people collect?" Daxter's voice dropped down to a low whisper, "Where's the bodies?"

Suddenly, Jak looked as disturbed as Daxter felt. "It was a while ago, Dax," he said, trying to convince himself and the sidekick.

Daxter shook her head, "Not that long ago. Torn said—"

"Dax," Jak said, interrupting, "We're not going to think about it. We have a mission and that mission comes first. So you're not going to think about it and I'm sure as hell not going to think about it, okay?"

Daxter nodded. "Yeah, sounds good, big guy." Not thinking sounded like the best thing in the world at that moment. They pushed their way deeper into the structure, spotting a hallway with a single entrance.

Luckily, they had come across something that would drive all speculation about Dead Town out of their brains, unfortunately that something was a Metalhead.

The large gleaming creature growled at them from the back of the hallway and before Jak could raise his gun, the monster fired a series of blue fireballs at the duo.

"Cripes!" Daxter shouted and plastered herself against the wall. Jak mirrored her maneuver on the opposite side of the doorway. The blue fireballs kept coming, with hardly a pause between volleys. Daxter swallowed a lump in her throat. "What do we do, Jak? We'll be toast before we can fire the shotgun and I don't intend on depriving the world of my manly self!" Daxter shouted.

Jak pondered the problem for a moment. The scatter gun was too slow and had almost no range. Although the shotgun had a better range, Daxter pointed out that it was also too slow for their opponent. "What about the mod Torn gave us?" he asked.

Daxter looked over her gun and switched it to the new setting. "It's blue!" she replied.

"And?" Jak asked.

"I don't know, we didn't get a chance to try it out, dumbass, how am I supposed to know?" Daxter said.

Jak secretly wondered if Daxter still hadn't gotten over her hangover. "Look, have you noticed that the Metalhead stops every once and while?"

Daxter nodded. "Yeah, like it's reloading."

"The next time it stops I'm going to try to squeeze off a few rounds. I'm hoping this gun's a fast shot," Jak said.

"That's stupid, Jak."

"We don't have much choice. I'll need you to stand by in case this one is slow too. Maybe you can snipe it before it gets me," Jak said. "I'm counting on you for backup."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "This sucks."

Jak ignored her. "Get ready."

Daxter swallowed and clutched her gun. Another ball of blue fire sailed by and then there was nothing.

Jak dove out from behind his cover and pulled the trigger. Brilliant blue bolts of light tore down the hallway, striking the Metalhead with quick successive jerks. The Metalhead seemed to dance as it was pelted by the rapid fire of the machinegun. Blue shell casings littered the floor at Jak's feet. He paid no attention to them; he focus was on the Metalhead. Daxter watched in awe as the creature exploded into several blobs of Dark Eco. The whole scene took only a few seconds.

The sidekick grinned. "Did you see that? Holy crap, this is the best thing ever!" She hugged her gun. "Yes, you're Mommy's new favorite!"

Jak raised an eyebrow.

"Daddy, Daddy's new favorite," Daxter corrected. Her voice dared Jak to say anything. "What's this thing called, anyway?"

Jak glanced at the name branded on the mod piece. "Vulcan."

"Nice," Daxter said, stroking the gun barrel.

"We can kick some serious ass with this gun, but we've got to be careful. Torn didn't leave us much ammo and this sucker goes through a lot," Jak said. He kicked the shell casings, their blue light fading to a dull gray. "If we're light on the trigger it should last us through the rest of the mission."

Jak was right, the duo switched off between firing their weapons, maintaining a careful balance between their precious ammunition and the need to complete their objective. Daxter greatly enjoyed the Vulcan, she had no problem firing it at Metalheads and watching their bodies dance for a few seconds before dying. The quick pace did not allow the creatures time to react and she liked it that way, much less danger for her or Jak. They held a comfortable silence as they crawled through Dead Town, one so that they would not alert the Metalheads to their presence but also so they wouldn't have to deal with the events of that morning.

The air in Dead Town became much sweeter as they continued on the path toward the Sacred Site. Although the area was still devastated, there was an aura of peacefulness that continued to grow. Jak and Daxter followed the feeling until they reached their goal.

Daxter's mouth dropped open in shock. She gripped Jak's sleeve, unable to process what she was seeing. "Is that, it can't be—"

"It's Samos' hut," Jak said, the same tone of awe in his voice.

The old hut was in a state of decay but the shape was unmistakable. The twisting pathways that led to its front door were still solid despite the state of disrepair. A flood of memories washed over them of summers and winters listening to the lessons and lectures of the Green Sage, as he would explain the history and natural wonders of the world. It was the place where Jak and Daxter had met for the first time, it was the place where Keira had built so many of her inventions, it was the place where Daxter's parents and Jak's Uncle felt safe leaving them alone, it was also the place where Daxter heard his parents say, "I love you," for the last time.

Daxter shook her head in denial. "No, no way. It can't be."

"Daxter, I—"

The sidekick grabbed his shirtfront, shaking the larger hero. "This is a nightmare, Jak, there's no way in hell we're still in Sandover!" Daxter shouted.

"You're right Dax, we're not."

Daxter stopped, her shoulders tense waiting for Jak's explanation.

"We're in Haven City, sometime in Sandover's future. This horrible place . . . this place is our home," Jak said.

The redhead released her grip. She shook her head. "This might be Sandover but it sure as hell ain't home."

Jak knew she was right. No matter how much time they spent behind the city's cold walls it never felt the same as the wooden sanctuary that was Samos' hut. No matter how many cold nights they spent huddled together in Daxter's small bed, it could not compare with the nights under the stars in their youth. The two of them could never fit in with the rest of the city, attach to its vibe the same way Keira did. They were outsiders and always would be. Daxter picked up her gun and glanced over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go tell Tattooed Wonder we did the job."

With a heavy heart, Jak followed.

* * *

The thud of boots clanking against metal stairs alerted Torn to their presence. He glanced up from the plans he was working on and was surprised to see the normally manic pair so depressed. He felt a stab of fear. "Did you save the Site?" he asked. 

"Yeah, yeah, it's all fine and dandy," Daxter muttered.

The Underground Commander let out a silent breath of relief. "Good, because the Shadow wants to meet with you," Torn said.

Jak and Daxter shared a glance. That was good; they'd been hoping to do that for a while now and maybe he could give them some answers. "Why are those old ruins so important to him?" Jak asked.

Torn stood up and gestured for the twosome to follow him. "There's a great power source hidden at the Sacred Site. The Metalheads want it—"

"And so does the Shadow," Jak guessed.

Torn nodded in affirmation.

"Huh, you know it's funny but we know the old buzzard that—" Daxter paused as she saw a new figure come into view.

An older greenish colored man was tinkering away at a workbench. He had a monocle, white bushy eyebrows and a goatee. Jak and Daxter recognized him instantly. It wasn't hard, considering they'd spent about eight-five percent of their childhood attempting to avoid his lectures on responsibility and how careless Daxter was. The old man sniffed at the Demolition Duo. "So, these are the new recruits who are causing so much trouble?" he asked.

"You've got to be kidding me," Daxter said.

"Welcome to our humble Underground movement. They call me The Shadow, but you can call me Samos," the Green Sage told them.

Daxter snorted. "Cut the crap, Grandpa Green. Jeez the nerve Jak, we spend all this time looking for him and he's been hanging out here with Ol' Sourpuss. Keira's been worried sick about you, old man. And another thing--"

Jak placed a warning hand on Daxter's shoulder. She calmed down, wondering what was up. The blond hero frowned. The expression on Samos' wasn't joy, happiness or even recognition, just exasperation and confusion. "You don't recognize us at all? But we went through the Rift Gate, all of us, together," Jak said.

Samos shook his head. "I'm sorry but I don't know what you two have been chewing on but I have no idea what you're talking about. I have a Baron to overthrow, a child heir to find, a Metalhead invasion to stop and a city to save. I don't have time to traveling through Rift Gates, future or no future. Besides, I hate teleporting."

"Well that sounds like Samos all right," Daxter muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jak felt his stomach drop. He had to make Samos remember who they were. "What about Keira, your daughter?" Jak asked.

The older man scoffed. "Daughter, what daughter? I don't have any children, don't have time for them nor the inclination."

For one of the few times in Daxter's life she was speechless. She stared up at Jak, the shock too much for her.

Torn growled in frustration. "We don't have time for this," he said. He tossed the duo a map. "Listen you two, one of our informants is in danger. The Krimzon Guards have discovered her and are closing in on her as we speak. I need you to escort her back to Headquarters. Her value as an informant has been compromised but she could still be useful to the Underground. When you get to her location, ask for Arda."

Jak took that as a cue to leave. "Fine. Let's go, Dax."

"But—"

Jak was firm. "Let's go."

Daxter gave The Shadow one last wary glare and turned to trail Jak.

Torn watched them leave, uncertain what the previous exchange had been about. He had been working with the Rat for over a year and he still knew almost nothing about her or her partner. They acted different and they sounded different from the other citizens of Haven City. Hell, they even walked differently, as if boots were something new to them. And now that bizarre conversation with The Shadow. . .

"Strange ones, aren't they?" Samos asked. "Feels like we have to take anyone with a pulse these days."

"Yeah," Torn answered, lost in his own thoughts.

* * *

Jak scouted the area and climbed onboard an unattended vehicle. He waited for Daxter to climb on. She wrapped her arms around his waist and asked the question Jak had been dreading. "What the hell was wrong with Green Stuff back there?" 

"I don't think that's the Samos we know," Jak answered, kicking the machine to life.

"What do you—" Before Daxter could finish, Jak took off. He zoomed forward, following the instructions that Torn had given them. Daxter clung onto him for dear life, too afraid to talk about anything, lest she break the blond's concentration. The zoomer zipped between buildings and down narrow alleys before stopping in front of an innocuous looking building that looked very much like every other building in the slums. Daxter slid off the machine on shaky legs. "Sheesh, could you go any faster? I didn't see my life flash before my eyes!"

Jak ignored her and knocked on an unmarked door. Daxter rushed up to join him, just in case there was trouble. A peephole opened and a pair of painted eyes peered out at them. "What do you want?" a feminine voice snapped at them.

"We're here to see Arda," Jak said.

There was a delicate snort from the other side of the door. "She really is the popular one, isn't she? Come on in." The door swung open and the heavy scent of perfume assaulted their noses. Jak entered, dragging Daxter behind him. The door shut after them, leaving the duo trapped in one of the plushest places Jak had ever seen. Rich fabrics and overstuffed pillows crowded the main room with a series of doors branching to unknown places. Daxter groaned.

"Precursors, not this place again," she muttered.

"Hello, and welcome to my home," a familiar soothing voice greeted them. Jak and Daxter turned to find a pretty older woman wearing a rather revealing outfit. She paused as she gazed at Daxter. "My, I certainly wasn't expecting to see you again," she said, a smirk curling her lip. She then turned her warm gaze to Jak. "Nor for such a handsome man to require our services."

As Jak started to realize exactly where he was, Daxter interrupted. "Listen Minc, we're here on business."

The older woman approached the duo, invading their personal space. "Of course you are, everything's business here," Minc said, entwining her arms with Jak and Daxter's. She leaned her lips close to Jak's ear. "And here we make business very pleasurable." She turned his head to meet her eyes. "I'm certain that you and your partner can come to an agreement with me."

Jak slipped out from her grasp and yanked Daxter toward himself. He placed a protective arm across her chest. "We're just here to talk to Arda."

Minc pouted at the loss of a potential prize. "Fine, she's behind that door." A well-manicured finger pointed to a door on the left.

"Thanks," Jak said, his voice flat. He led Daxter to the indicated door and knocked.

A green-haired woman in her late-twenties answered the door, her hair and clothes disheveled. She was obviously still at her toilet. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready yet." She smoothed her hair with frantic movements of her hands.

"Are you Arda?" Jak asked.

"Yes," the woman answered, brushing her hair out of her face.

Jak dropped his voice to a low whisper. "We're from the Underground."

Arda's eyes widened with surprise and more than a little relief. "Oh yes, come in." She pushed open the door and allowed the hero and his sidekick to enter. The woman closed the door and faced the newcomers. Her room was not a quarter as opulent as the greeting room. It was almost empty except for the bed and some cabinets on the walls. A large mirror hung over the bed and the bedposts themselves had handcuffs built in, obviously meant for her more kinky clients.

"Do you have any news?" she asked.

Daxter looked at the slight woman, uncertain if this was whom Torn was talking about. "Are you sure you're who we're supposed to be talking to, lady?"

For her credit, Arda did not look insulted. "Let me explain, my name is Arda. For the past six months I have been using my position to extract information from the Krimzon Guard and sell it to the Underground."

Daxter grimaced. "You mean you—"

Arda answered without shame. "Yes, they were my clients."

"Well your clients are onto you. Torn sent us to get you out of here," Jak said.

Arda dropped her eyes. "I knew this would happen but I was hoping it would be later," she said. "We have to go now?"

"Unless you want to be toast, toots," Daxter said.

The green-haired woman nodded. "Okay, let me just get my daughter." She dashed out of the room.

Jak and Daxter shared a look of surprise. A daughter? This was going to complicate things, a lot.

Arda came in carrying a small girl with the same green hair. The child was about the same age as the boy Jak and Daxter had led to Kor. Arda set her daughter on the ground and knelt in front of her. "Remember how I said we'd be going on a trip?" The little girl nodded. "Well, today's the day. Can you pack a few things for yourself right away?" The girl nodded. "Good girl, hurry now," Arda said.

The little girl grabbed a backpack from underneath the worn bed and started throwing clothes into it. Arda watched, her face proud. Jak and Daxter took this all in, unsure how to react or how to feel. They didn't know this woman yet she had to trust them with not only her life, but also the life of her little girl. Jak wondered why Torn hadn't mentioned the child, or if he had known about her at all.

The little girl finished and slung the backpack on her shoulders. Arda smiled and opened a cabinet door. Inside was an already packed bag. She had been planning this for a while. She hoisted it on and grabbed her daughter. "Let's go," she said.

Before they could move the door swung open. "Where do you think you're going?" Minc demanded, her body blocking the doorway.

"I have to leave, the Krimzon Guard are coming," Arda answered.

A scowl crossed Minc's face. "You didn't," she said. "I thought I drove that spying nonsense out of your head."

Arda crossed the room to face her employer. "We're at war, Minc." She drew her gaze to the child in her arms. "We can't afford not to take sides."

Arda pushed Minc to the side but the other woman wouldn't have it. Minc grasped the arm carrying the girl. "That might be true for you but I'm running a business, a business that relies on staying neutral. You've just signed a death warrant for all of us."

Arda shook her head. "Not if I'm not here. Deny that you ever knew what I was doing."

Minc scoffed. "They won't believe that."

Daxter and Jak found themselves in silent agreement that the Madame was right.

The green-haired woman pulled away. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let the Baron continue what he was doing without a fight. This isn't the world I want for my daughter. Goodbye and thank you for giving me a home," Arda said. She moved past her former employer and out into the air. Jak and Daxter followed without hesitation.

"Arda, please!" Minc cried. "Listen to me!"

But Arda never heard her; she was already gone. Jak and Daxter, on the other hand, just paid no attention to the Madame; they had an informant to escort.

* * *

Seemed like a good place to end the chapter, though I had a lot more planned. I just wanted to get something out there since who knows when I'll find time to write again. Part of me also wonders if I should do something kind of dirty in the next chapter or not. Ah, I'll see how I feel when I write it. 


	16. Chapter 15: Ambush

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

This is a dirty, dirty chapter. I seriously hope I don't violate any rules. Most of this chapter is worksafe, but there's this one part—yeah, no little ones reading this chapter. Or at least that one section. You'll totally know it when you see it.

Edit: I got some good constructive crit so I edited this chapter. I hope it makes for a better overall read. No plot elements have been changed.

* * *

Chapter 15: Ambush

It should have been an easy mission. Go in, grab the informant, get out, go home and then deny, deny, deny. But no, first there had to be a kid and kids never made the situation easier. They just always made it messier. And then there was the informant herself, not a bad person but she was employed in the one place that could and did present a humiliating experience for Daxter. And she really wasn't looking forward to explaining that one to Jak.

But these things could be overcome, Daxter just had to tell herself that over and over until they reached the rendezvous point.

"Okay, Daxter I'm going to find a bigger zoomer, you watch Arda," Jak ordered.

"Right," Daxter said as he walked away.

"Is he fast?" Arda asked, a hint of worry in her voice. She set her little girl on the ground and stroked her hair.

Daxter snorted. "Don't worry about Jak, he's a pro at this."

Arda straightened her daughter's collar. "I want to thank you for helping me and my daughter. She means a lot to me."

The redhead flushed, remembering how her mother would fuss like that. "That's what the Underground is for. We're keepers of the peace, defenders of the helpless and pretty damn good-looking to boot," Daxter said with a wink.

"Well your group seems to be the only ones doing any good. I don't want Keira growing up the way I did." Arda reached forward and "caught" her daughter's nose. The green-haired child squealed and reached up toward her mother with pudgy hands. Arda hold the nose "captive" above the child's reach.

"Keira? I have a friend named Keira, she works at the Stadium," Daxter said. Daxter wasn't too surprised; Keira was a relatively common name so she was bound to run into someone with the same name sooner or later.

"Really?" the woman asked. "What's she like?" Arda had let her guard down and little Keira pounced on the offending arm and "retrieved" her nose. Keira cooed and covered her nose in case her mother attempted to capture it again.

"She's real smart and into all that Precursor crap. I don't get it myself but she's a mean grease monkey." Daxter showed Arda the Hoverboard. "She made this too."

Little Keira looked up at the device with total adoration. Arda smiled. "She sounds wonderful."

"Don't know the half of it." Daxter tapped her foot. Jak had been gone exactly three minutes longer than she thought he'd be. "Where's Jak, it doesn't take that long to swipe a zoomer."

A loud humming sound interrupted further musing as Jak whipped around the corner on a two-person zoomer. Daxter raised an eyebrow. "What's the deal big guy? I thought we were going foursies."

Jak jerked the vehicle to a stop and leapt off. He grabbed Arda's arm. "Get on."

"But—" the green-haired woman protested.

"There's no time," Jak pushed Arda toward the bike and picked up little Keira. "Both of you, go to the Hip Hog," Jak ordered.

He handed the child to her mother with gentle hands. Arda wrapped a protective arm around Keira and looked at the redhead in confusion. "Daxter, what—"

THUMP. THUMP. The ground trembled and buildings shook. Everyone turned toward the source of the sound. The screech of metal on metal announced the arrival of the next to last thing Daxter had wanted to see that day. An awkward robot stumbled around the corner on its spindly legs, its turret seeking out a target. People ran; panicked shrieks rent the air. Concrete and wood spewed into the air as blaster beams shattered buildings. Warm bodies pushed passed the small group, a terrified crowd fleeing a mechanical monster.

"Daxter and I have other things to take care of," Jak said. He unsheathed his gun and switched it to the Vulcan mod.

Daxter swallowed and copied the maneuver. "Go the Waterfront, the Hip Hog's the ugliest bar out there. You can't miss it!"

Arda shook her head. "I can't just leave—"

"You have more important things to take care of," Jak said, nodding at the small figure huddled against her mother.

Determination and love steeled Arda's features. She nodded and rushed the zoomer forward, disappearing into the crowd. As soon as they were gone, the Demolition Duo rushed toward the Blaster Bot.

"I'll take right, you take left," Jak ordered.

Daxter nodded and dashed to the robot's left.

Jak fired at the gleaming creature's legs, sparks flying. The great turret shifted, seeking the minor nuisance. Before it could focus on the blond hero, Daxter took a shot, hitting the back of the gun. The top wobbled for a moment before swiveling to track Daxter. The redhead ran drawing the robot's fire while Jak attacked it from behind. The blue bullets shredded the metal casing and hit the delicate electronics underneath.

BOOM! Scraps of metal rained down on the Demolition Duo. Daxter lifted her head, blinking away the spots that danced in her eyes. "We showed him, huh Jak?"

A clicking sound and the thud of heavy machinery slamming into concrete was her answer. A second Blaster Bot stumbled out into the street.

Daxter felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. "Shit, how many of those things are there?"

"I don't know, but we have to take 'em all," Jak answered.

The redhead groaned. "I knew you were gonna say that."

Jak shoved Daxter in one direction and he went in the other. The blond hero leapt for cover behind some crates, the Blaster Bot followed him.

Daxter ducked under some barrels and set up a makeshift sniper's nest. She knew she needed to wait for the right moment to strike so she took the opportunity to flip open her communicator. "Tess baby, things have gotten a little hot and sticky down here so I need you to go to the Hip Hog to pick up our pigeon."

"What? What happened?" Tess's lovely voice filtered through the electronics, which Daxter ignored. She snapped it shut and slipped it into her pocket.

Jak had crippled one of the robot's legs and it struggled to remain upright. Daxter decided to put it out of its misery. Caught in the heroes' crossfire, the Blaster Bot never stood a chance.

They didn't waste time celebrating as the last Blaster Bot made its presence known. The sidekick had to flee her hiding spot before the robot blasted it to smithereens. She ran, shooting as she went, bullets flying in all directions. Jak followed them, unwilling to let Daxter go into danger alone.

The redhead bobbed and weaved in and out from between buildings, leading the Bot on a not-so-merry chase. The robot lumbered through ever-narrowing streets, knocking brick and wood from the aging slum walls.

As she ran, Daxter looked for anything that could help her escape. She turned a corner and came upon a makeshift market filled with works of art and food. The inhabitants had fled when the robots had appeared and left everything out, including a sack of flour. Seeing an opportunity, Daxter's hand shot out and grabbed a flour sack. She hurled it into the air and the Blaster Bot fired. A white cloud of flour obscured the robot's vision. Wasting no time, Daxter raced for cover in one of the artist's booths. She knelt down, certain the Blaster Bot couldn't see her.

Daxter reloaded, her fingers flying over the gun. Her eyes locked on the Blaster Bot tottering around on the other side of the street. She aimed. It would never see the shot coming.

Suddenly Daxter was jerked back into an alley and a something sharp stabbed into her neck. She gurgled in unexpected pain and flailed against her unseen attacker. The source of her pain flew off and struck the asphalt. A quick turn of her neck revealed it to be a bloody syringe. "What the—" All the energy in her limbs failed her. Daxter felt too heavy, too sluggish to move. Her feet would not even support her; she was totally at the mercy of her assailant. A pair of strong arms adjusted themselves around her waist.

"Did you miss me?" an all too familiar voice murmured in her ear.

Daxter's eyes widened. Erol. There was no way this situation could get any worse. Even if it had been a Metalhead instead of Erol at least it all would have been over in one or two bites. But Erol was a different kind of animal; wild and unpredictable even to his own Krimzon Guards. Daxter wanted to run, run as far away as possible but her feet wouldn't even stay flat on the ground. Maybe, she thought, this is just a mental thing and I really can run. The problem was there was no sensation in her legs or arms. No amount of silent cheerleading would change that. She had to distract him from whatever it was he planned to do. If she could get him talking long enough Jak would come and she'd be okay.

So she did the one thing she was best at, opened her mouth. "Why don't you go fuck a Metalhead? I bet they'd love a pretty boy like you." Daxter smirked. That would show him. Erol would get mad, maybe beat up on her a little and then Jak could come in and kick his ass. Although Daxter wasn't looking forward to getting punched in the face it was better than anything else Erol would be capable of.

A hand snaked up to cup her chin, forcing her to look Erol in the eye. "I see the toxin didn't effect your tongue," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "All the better for me."

Panic crept in the corners of Daxter's brain. That look couldn't possibly mean what she thought it meant. Sure, Erol had screwed around with her before but she couldn't believe that he would actually _want_ that. She willed herself to calm down. Yes this was bad, but there was no way that he would try anything with Jak being so close by, right? She had to believe that or she would start screaming and that would just make everything worse, it would make everything real.

Erol shifted the position of his hands, one rested on the young woman's hip and the other curved around her chest. The hand on her hip started a kneading motion. The bone felt prominent against her thin skin. "I wasn't expecting both of you so soon. I thought Torn would have sent someone else to pick up the tart but it all works out better this way." His lips caressed the side of her neck, leaving hot moist trails on her skin.

Daxter choked back a scream of rage. She couldn't be at this man's mercy, not again.

Erol's palm wandered from her hip to the front of her stomach. "I was disappointed how easy it was to get the robot to drive you here, but I really shouldn't complain." His pinkie rested at her beltline, his digits tickling the warm flesh of her belly. The hand on her chest curved to cup the underside of her breast.

Shocks of unwanted pleasure rolled up the sidekick's spine. She wanted to tell him to stop, to leave her alone but she knew the bastard would mock her because she was so helpless. Daxter's teeth chattered as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drive out the sensation. She couldn't let him win, she couldn't let him win--

Erol grinned against her neck and slipped his hand beneath the waist of her pants. Daxter wanted to squirm away but the offending fingers quested lower and lower. She whimpered, frustrated at her inability to move. "You're the perfect means to control Jak, both punishment and reward."

A single digit dipped underneath the thin material covering her most private places. She gasped as the finger caressed the entrance to her body. Fear coiled in her belly, driving out all other emotions. This was not happening, there is no way he could—

"As reward, he gets to touch you."

Daxter shook her head. "No."

His voice dropped to a silky purr. "And as punishment—" He stabbed upward with his fingers, impaling her. "He gets to watch," Erol hissed.

Daxter shrieked, her eyes widening in shock. Erol spread his two fingers oh so slightly, just enough for her to feel exactly where he was and what he was doing. Moisture built in the corner of her eyes as the pain spiked inside her. She would not cry, she would not cry, she would not—

A couple of tears escaped, racing down her face. Shame flushed her cheeks; she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and die.

The Captain made a noise in critique. "A bit dry but nothing a little foreplay can't fix." Suddenly, the buildings around them shook from some great impact. Erol frowned. If that was the Blaster Bot then he had just run out of time. "We'll have to take this elsewhere," he muttered.

The Captain shifted his hands so they cradled Daxter just underneath her armpits. He dragged the immobile girl further down the alley. "We're going to have so much fun together, aren't we?" Erol said with a leer.

Daxter's breath hitched in her chest. She couldn't believe this, it was happening all over again. Even though she couldn't remember the first time, Erol did and Erol would use that knowledge to torture her. Her sole solace about the previous time was that she had no memory of it. Without memory she could use denial to keep her sane. This time was different, she was conscious and nothing could ever erase it. With every step, Daxter was getting closer to never escaping this nightmare. She had to get away from Erol. She tried to struggle but her muscles were still not cooperating, so she did the next best thing: she screamed.

Erol cursed and smothered her mouth but the damage was done.

"Let her go."

There stood Jak, sweaty and dirty from fighting the Blaster Bots. He brandished his gun, purple lightening licking his fingers and the corners of his eyes. The thin trail of blood gracing Daxter's neck infuriated him. Jak's features rippled as the power of the Other threatened to burst from his skin.

Relief flooded Daxter's system. Jak was here, he'd make everything okay.

The Krimzon Guard Captain began to sweat. He knew very well what Dark Jak was capable of and that he would never beat the creature in a fair fight. But Erol never liked to play fair, he would just have to figure out how to take the advantage and keep it. He hardened his glare, determined not to show weakness in the face of the monster he helped create. Erol snorted. "Really? Do you think you're a good enough shot not to hit her?" He pulled Daxter tight against his body. He cupped her chin, pressing his face against hers. "Hmm?"

Daxter grimaced but couldn't move away.

Dark Jak howled in the back of Jak's mind, but the blond hero ignored it, certain that releasing the creature would mean Daxter's death. But maybe Erol didn't know that. He dropped his weapon, his voice low and dangerous. "Maybe I don't need a gun." He moved deeper into the alley, his steps slow and deliberate.

A brief look of shock crossed Erol's face before he concealed it with his standard look of arrogant superiority. "I wouldn't recommend it. You see, I've poisoned your friend here and she doesn't have long to live."

Jak paused. He allowed the glow of Dark Jak to fade from his face.

"That's bullshit, he's lying Jak!" Daxter called out. She sounded unconvinced, even to her own ears. If the man was capable of molesting her in some side alley during a battle then what was to keep him from trying to kill her as well?

"You can't move, you're hardly in a place to judge," Erol said. He turned his gaze to Jak. "It starts in the major muscle groups and works its way into the autonomic nervous system which will shut down her organs one by one until either her lungs or her heart stop."

Jak swallowed his fear. "You're lying."

"Do you want to take that chance?" Erol asked. "Here." He shoved Daxter toward Jak.

Daxter hurtled toward the ground, unable to protect herself from injury. Jak lunged forward and cushioned her fall. By the time he recovered his feet and had Daxter upright, Erol was gone. Jak scowled at the lost opportunity but turned his attention to the sidekick in his arms. "Are you okay?"

Daxter's voice wavered. "I can't move Jak, I don't know."

Jak scooped his arm under her knees and picked her up. "Don't worry, I'll get help."

"Thanks, big guy," Daxter whispered. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, Erol's words had terrified her. To die now after everything she had been through was unfair. She refrained from tears, knowing that it would just worry the hero more than he already was. So she would just have to hide her fear, bury it, and hope that Jak would be in time.

* * *

The frantic pounding at the door drew Torn from his thoughts. He was alone and no one ever knocked when entering the Underground. He got up from behind his desk, gun drawn. He approached the door, feet silent against the ground. Torn held himself flush with the wall and pressed the button. The door whooshed open and a blond man stumbled in, carrying a familiar looking burden. Daxter was breathing but it was shallow and she blinked as if she couldn't focus. Her eyes were dilated and her skin pale. "What the hell?" Torn asked. He closed the door. "Did anyone see you?"

Jak shook his head, face twisted in panic. "Torn, you've got to help her. Erol said she'll die--"

Torn glanced over the woman cradled in Jak's arms. She had no visible injuries except for the small wound on her neck. Painful yes, but it hardly looked fatal. "What happened?" Torn asked, he led the Demolition Duo to an empty bunk in the next room.

The blond hero laid Daxter among the thin sheets. "Erol said it was poison," Jak said.

Torn knelt down beside Daxter. He examined her face and placed a hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature. A thoughtful frown crossed his face. "How long ago was it?"

Daxter answered through gasped breaths, "Half an hour maybe."

The Underground Leader nodded. He rose to his feet. "Give her ten minutes, she'll be fine."

Jak stared at Torn in shock. "Ten minutes? But Erol said—"

"Erol was trying to save his own skin," Torn replied. "Dax is okay, she's just panicking a little. That's a pretty normal reaction to his stuff." He brushed an errant hair from Daxter's eyes.

The redhead blinked at him in surprise. Her breaths slowed down and became deeper. "What do you mean panic?" she wheezed out. "I'm not panicking!"

"Don't talk Rat," Torn said. He turned to Jak. "Back when I was in the Guard some eggheads developed a neurotoxin that temporarily paralyzed the major muscle groups. We used it to detain violent criminals with non-lethal force. It was effective and there were no side effects once it wore off. The problem was there were some Krimzon Guards who used it for their own purposes and the press found out. So the Baron made the neurotoxin illegal in an attempt to regain the public trust. I'm not surprised Erol would have some of it hanging around."

Jak was quiet for a moment. "So Daxter's going to be okay?" he asked.

Daxter snorted, her bravado returning a little. "Didn't you hear Tattooed Wonder, big guy? No side effects." Although Daxter would never admit it, Torn was one of the few people that she trusted. Sure, Torn constantly through them into danger for the sake of the Underground, but he had never underplayed the seriousness of a mission. It was one of the reasons she felt like she could believe anything he said.

Torn leaned over the bed and scowled. "I told you to keep quiet, Rat." Daxter hushed and cowered the best she could with non-functioning muscles. The leader of the Underground sighed and straightened up. "I'll be at the drafting table." He headed out the doorway when Jak clutched his arm.

"So Daxter was never in any danger?" Jak asked.

Torn shook his head. "Not from the toxin," he answered. Jak didn't need clarification. The older man leaned against the wall. "Why, do you regret saving her and letting your chance at Erol go?"

Jak looked over his shoulder at the small figure in the bunk. She was staring at the ceiling, mentally counting the seconds until she could move and talk again. "No," Jak answered.

"Then you don't have a problem," Torn said. He walked out the door, leaving the twosome alone.

Jak sat down on the bed next to Daxter. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Daxter snorted. "I will be once I can feel my feet again," she said. She wrinkled her nose in concentration, looking as if she thought she could will her toes to wiggle. Her mind was blank, Daxter had blocked out all other thoughts save for getting her body back in line.

That's when Jak asked the question she had been dreading, "Did he hurt you?"

Her focus shattered. The sidekick was quiet for a moment. She contemplated lying but figured it would make the situation worse. "Yeah."

Jak drew in a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. He did not want to ask but he had to. "What did he—"

"I'm not playing 'where did the bad man touch you,' Jak," Daxter said. "I'm pissed and there's nothing I can do about it. All I want is to get this shit out of my body and get some decent food. I haven't eaten anything all day and that damn hangover's gonna come back if I don't."

Jak's stomach growled. Unlike Daxter, he had managed to get some breakfast that morning but that had been a while ago. "Yeah, food sounds good."

Daxter's lips curved into a smile. "Don't it though?"

"Dax?" He laid a comforting hand on the redhead's brow. The temperature felt normal, which was probably why Torn hadn't worried. But then Torn didn't see Erol carrying a half-conscious Daxter down the alleyway. Torn hadn't seen the covetous look in the other man's eyes as he gripped the sidekick's face. Most importantly, Torn didn't love Daxter.

Jak's eyes met Daxter's. "You do know that I'm here to talk right, if you need it?"

"Yeah, I know," Daxter replied, her voice sad. "I just don't want to."

* * *

Inside the Power Station, a lonely technician typed in codes at a frantic pace, attempting to keep the Eco levels stable. "Where's this coming from? This sort of massive drainage shouldn't be possible. As if I don't have enough problems," he muttered to himself. Although Vin was grateful to the Underground he also knew that if Erol ever found out there was a connection he was Metalhead food. Vin snorted and slapped his hands on the console. "Nothing's adding up!"

"Then take a break."

Vin turned and the object of his earlier worry was standing in the doorway. This was not good. "Listen Erol I—"

The Captain ignored him. "Analyze this," Erol demanded. He tossed a needle less syringe filled with blood at Vin.

The thin man almost dropped it out of sheer horror. "Ew, oh yuck what is this? Do you know how busy I am? Who knows what kinds of germs lurk in this thing?"

"That's why I want you to analyze it. I expect a report in three hours," Erol said.

"I don't have that kind of time, the shield walls—"

Erol raised an eyebrow. "This is a top priority security matter, the shields can take care of themselves."

Vin knew better than to argue with a madman. "I don't know what you expect to find," he said.

"I'm not sure myself. I'll be back." As Erol strolled out the Power Station all the air seemed to rush out of the room with him.

Vin leaned against the console. This was not going to be a good day.

True to his word, three hours later Erol darkened Vin's door once again. But what neither man had expected was for Vin to find anything, let alone have questions. The small scientist frowned. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

The question took Erol aback. He danced around the subject. "What does it matter? Did you find something wrong?"

"You betcha," Vin said. He pivoted in his chair and pulled an image of a DNA strand onto the screen. "There," he said. He leaned back in his seat in triumph.

The Krimzon Guard Captain had no idea what the other was talking about. "This is gibberish, it means nothing to me."

Vin sighed as only one who must suffer fools can. "The Eco saturation of this specimen is completely unprecedented in our time."

Erol raised an eyebrow. "What kind of Eco?"

"All kinds. Several hundred years ago before the Metalheads invaded, Eco was everywhere, just all over the place. Even when it was underground it was just below the surface so it didn't take much to get to it. As a result, everyone had high levels of Eco exposure in their blood. But when the Metalheads came all the Eco retreated deep underground. Hell, that's where I'd go if I saw a Metalhead, nasty creatures with the big teeth and the bulging eyes—" Vin started to get off-track.

"What do this have to do with anything?" Erol asked.

Vin flailed his arms around. "I'm getting to that. When the Eco retreated, we stopped getting the constant exposure. All we get is tiny bits and that's all been refined, we don't get the hardcore stuff. Even Eco miners today don't have these kinds of levels."

The red-haired Guard growled. "And?"

Sensing Erol's impatience, Vin continued. "We are talking about a person that had to have been born over 500 years ago for this to add up. This blood should not exist."

Erol pondered this for a moment. When he had first met Jak and Daxter they had been young, too young really for what the Baron had wanted. They had been dressed in clothing that had been out of place in the city. Barefoot and with slack-jawed expressions of terror and awe they had tried to escape but were outclassed by the armed Krimzon Guards. Could it be? No, the notion was absurd.

Erol voiced this last thought, "That's absurd; you've been staring at screens for too long."

The scientist's mouth twisted in annoyance. "Well if you knew anything about Eco Theoretical Physics then you'd know I was right. All of this information is in The Archives, a child could access it." Although Vin was nervous by nature, when he was in full lecture mode he gained a confidence many didn't think possible. It was why he had been considered brilliant in college, but also why he didn't have many friends.

Erol considered what Vin had said. He hadn't thought about The Archives since childhood. The Archives were an electronic collection of data complied by a pair of researchers 500 years before. Most of the current knowledge of Eco and Precursor Technology had stemmed from The Archives. The Archives also contained folklore, diaries, sketches of current technology and an extensive collection of personal photographs which sociologists had deemed invaluable and others found rather obnoxious.

The Captain wondered if there was anything else useful in The Archives. "Good work, I'll expect a full report later," Erol said. He spun on his heel and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Vin asked, miffed that Erol wasn't interested in the full intricacies of Eco saturation and blood levels.

The red-haired Guard glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to educate myself."

* * *

I want to apologize if the action segments seem sparse but the way I write action has been greatly influenced by writing screenplays. Basically, unless specific actions in those sequences have later bearing don't bother over-describing it, the director will probably change it anyway. :P 


	17. Chapter 16: The Archives

Jak and Daxter and all affiliated characters and places are property of Naughty Dog. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended in this fictional work.

A/N This chapter is dedicated to those who like the original ideas presented in this fanfic because boy, does this stray from game canon. WHEE!

* * *

Chapter 16: The Archives

Days passed. The two of them continued to work on missions but Torn had the foresight to include only the ones without Krimzon Guard involvement. He did it out of respect for Daxter and because he believed Jak would be unable to control himself around Erol's minions. The risk of injuring bystanders would be too great. Not only would innocents suffer but the cause would lose face as well. So Jak and Daxter stuck to simple courier missions and to clearing out Metalheads. Torn didn't care if Jak went ballistic around the monsters, the average citizen knew better than to hang around infested areas.

Day to day life went on much as before, at least that's how it looked on the surface. Daxter still talked and talked but she refrained from standing too close to anyone and kept her hands closer to her body. Casual touch was nonexistent and the redhead would slide just out of the way of friendly contact. No one noticed, except for Jak and Tess. Despite her efforts, Tess could not get the other woman to talk about Erol and broaching the subject just made Daxter freeze with a false smile on her face before switching the topic. She had become quite good at that.

As for Jak, he had stopped slipping into the bed at night after Daxter was asleep. Although it pained him, seeing the slight relief on Daxter's face that first morning after the incident told him everything. Daxter needed to define her own space and Jak needed to let her. This meant allowing Daxter to walk further away from him and acquiescing to her request for a larger zoomer so they could each have their own seats. It was in these little things that Daxter regained her sense of control. And control was something that Jak and Daxter would need if they ever confronted the Baron.

Today they were taking it easy, no missions, no Metalheads, just groceries and weapons. Daxter had found a large fruit stand and was currently occupied with one of her favorite activities, talking someone to death. "I wouldn't pay three let alone thirteen for this slop."

"It's very high quality, very fresh," the shopkeeper insisted.

"Fresh like my ass. I'll pay you five," Daxter said.

The burly shopkeeper slammed a fist on his stand. "Five, that's an insult!"

"This produce is an insult!"

Before Jak could step in, a shrill beep came from his pocket. He took the opportunity to ignore reality with gratitude. "Jak here."

"Where are you? Is Daxter with you?" Tess asked through the communicator.

"This sucker's as ripe as your mom, I'm not paying that!"

Jak covered his ear and turned away. "Yeah, we're together. What's going on?"

"We have some visitors here at Underground Headquarters who would like to talk to you," Tess said.

"Who?" Jak asked.

There was a playful lilt to Tess's voice. "You'll find out."

"We can be there in an hour," Jak told her. "Out."

"Ten."

"Five."

"Seven."

"Six and no more."

"Seven."

"Six and that's high buddy, and you know it."

"Six then."

"Fine." Daxter handed the shopkeeper his money and he gave her a full bag of produce. She gave him a smile. "Same time next week?"

The shopkeeper grinned. "You got it."

As they walked away, the blonde could not resist getting one last word in with his partner. "You really need to find another hobby."

-----------

The Demolition Duo dismounted from the zoomer and walked the few yards to the resistance's secret entrance.

"What are we doing here again?" Daxter asked.

"Tess said that someone wanted to meet us," Jak said.

The redhead raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Who?"

Jak shrugged. "She didn't say."

Daxter frowned, not happy with the answer. A few times, the twosome had to "make an appearance" at Underground meetings. Although The Shadow and Torn led the organization, they had to rely on patrons to keep their soldiers and spies equipped and fed. On occasion, those patrons wanted to see exactly where and to whom their money was going. Torn preferred using Jak and Daxter as examples. They were tough, could make decent conversation (well, Daxter could, Jak mostly grunted and tried to appear as unapproachable as possible) and their racing records added a bit of glamour. Under normal circumstances Daxter loved the attention, but the past few weeks had been far from normal.

The hero offered ideas. "It could be a client or some Underground hotshot." The exact things that she hadn't wanted to hear.

Daxter sighed. "Let's get this over with. I've got better things to do, like washing my hair."

The metal doors to the Underground whooshed open and they faced their mysterious hosts.

"Hi!"

A small bundle of green-haired energy hurled itself onto Daxter and wrapped its clubby little arms around the confused redhead's legs. "Keira?"

The child grinned with small white teeth. Being out of the brothel had done wonders for her personality.

"Hey kiddo!" Daxter said. She patted little Keira on the head. "Ya mind not cutting the blood flow to my legs?" The child shook her head "no" and clutched tighter.

A giggle announced the presence of others. Daxter looked up and found the offender. Tess stood with a hand covering her mouth, surrounded by Torn and The Shadow. And where there was child, there was mother. Arda stood off to the side, watching the display. The change in her demeanor was astonishing. Happiness and calm radiated out of the older woman's face. She had been given a second chance and was more than grateful.

Jak was surprised and pleased to see them. "I thought you two would have high-tailed it by now."

"Leave Haven? No. We have family here and there's still work to be done," Arda replied. "Besides, Keira wanted to see you again."

"Jakkie!" a tiny voice squealed and Jak found himself the new recipient of Keira's affections.

Jak allowed it, figuring that the child would eventually grow bored with him. He turned his attention back to Arda. "So you got out okay?"

"After we left you we went right to the waterfront just like you told us," Arda explained. A conspiratorial smile crossed her face. "Daxter was right about it being the ugliest bar there."

Daxter smirked at that. "Damn straight!"

"We met Tess and she took us to a safe house," Arda said. The woman's face softened. "I never got to thank you for what you did."

"And neither did I," a much older voice boomed. It was The Shadow, speaking for the first time since the duo had arrived. "Jak, Daxter, the Underground can't express its gratitude for your service in this matter. Arda is a valued member of our intelligence team and when her position was compromised she was in great danger. Your efforts most likely saved her life, and the Underground never leaves an agent behind."

Jak and Daxter didn't quite know what to say to that. For a long time they had thought of themselves as expendable. Was The Shadow's pronouncement just for Arda's benefit or did it really mean something?

While the adults conversed, a smaller guest had disengaged herself from Jak's person. Keira's curious eyes sought something to play with and spotted a row of books on a shelf. Each volume was bound in bright colors of some mysterious material. The little girl had to take a closer look. She toddled past the grownups, toward the bookshelf. Her target was in sight; it was the large volume with a bright green leather cover. The play of lines and wrinkles caught her attention, if the outside was that interesting then what of the inside?

The small girl stood on her tiptoes and stretched as far as she could. Her fingers brushed over the binding and found purchase on the spine. She tugged and the book tipped backwards into her outstretched hands. Unfortunately, the book was far too heavy for little Keira and the child fell right on her bottom. The air rushed out of her as the heavy book crushed against her chest.

"Keira!" Arda rushed to her little girl. She helped her daughter to her feet. "Are you all right? What have I told you about messing with other people's things?"

The green haired girl grinned, obviously fine. "It's pretty!"

The Shadow scurried over and snatched the tome. He held it out of the child's reach. "It is not pretty! This is a very important work!"

Never able to resist an opportunity to harass Samos, even if he wasn't the one she was used to, Daxter plucked the book from the Green Sage. She spun away out of his reach and moved to the other side of the room. "Why, what's it got? Beauty tips for the old and decrepit?" she taunted.

The Shadow growled and hobbled after the faster woman. "No. That is one of the only print copies of 'The Theories of Eco Dynamics' in existence!"

Daxter blew a raspberry. "Sounds boring, I bet there aren't any pictures." She opened the book and riffled through the pages, twirling around the Underground War Room. As she spotted various photographs and drawings she would make pithy comments. Jak tried to hold back his laughter but had a hard time of it. Arda shook her head while Keira attempted to follow the redhead to sneak a peek.

Torn stood to the side, watching the spectacle. He decided he would interfere if things went too far. As it was, he would just enjoy the show.

Daxter's lack of enthusiasm for the material enraged The Shadow. "This city would not exist if it was not for that book!"

"Yeah, yeah." Daxter turned a page and let her eyes drift across it. What she found stopped her cold. A look of shock mixed with something unidentifiable crossed her face.

"Dax?" Jak asked, concerned.

The sidekick did not respond so the hero moved next to her to see what had befuddled his partner. What he saw was a picture of a couple smiling for the camera. In their thirties, the man and woman both had red-orange hair and dressed like the people in Sandover had 500 years previous. The woman was pretty with a spattering of freckles across her nose and the man had a roguish grin with rather prominent buckteeth. What had given Jak and Daxter pause was the fact that they knew these individuals, knew them very well.

The Shadow failed to notice the change in their demeanor and had continued talking. "In fact, I doubt you would appreciate the years of work and effort that went into compiling this information. How many lands they traveled to and how many Sages they interviewed—Are you listening?"

They weren't. The Shadow took the opportunity to storm over to the stationary Daxter. "What are you looking at?" he asked. He peered over their shoulders and saw the picture. "Oh yes, Thom and Circe, the authors."

"They wrote this?" Daxter asked. Her lips curved into an awed smile.

The Shadow was surprised at Daxter's sudden interest. "Yes."

She looked up from the book. "Did they write anything else?"

"Yes," The Shadow answered, warming to his subject. "They wrote numerous books on Eco, Precursor Technology, religion, folklore, practically anything you can think of. All the texts were later collected into The Archives."

Daxter clutched the book to her chest. "Did they survive the Metalhead attacks? The first one?" she asked. The tone of her voice suggested she was afraid to ask.

Samos snorted as if she had asked a ridiculous question. "Yes of course, they did all their best writing then. Lived to be quite old if I remember correctly," he said, stroking his beard.

Daxter shoved the book at Samos. "Thanks, Green Stuff," she said. She grabbed Jak's hand and dragged him into the next room. Samos stared after the two and huffed.

"What has gotten into them?" he asked.

Torn shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

Curious as to what Jak and Daxter had found so important, Tess followed the duo into the next room.

Daxter and Jak were talking in low, hushed voices. Happiness shined out from their faces, a rarity in their new surroundings. Tess almost didn't want to disturb them. Almost. "Daxter?" Tess interrupted. The twosome turned their attention to the blonde bombshell. "Who are the people in the picture?" she asked.

Daxter giggled with a strange excitement and ran a hand through her hair. There was no dancing around the subject, Tess already knew about Jak and Daxter being from Sandover. Really, she was the only person from Haven City that Daxter could tell. "They're my parents," Daxter said.

-------------

Like most people, Daxter could not remember early childhood; he had only impressions that it had been a happy and fulfilling one with very doting parents. The first significant change in his life had occurred the day he met a silent little boy just a smidge older than himself.

That morning had come far too soon for young Daxter. The mischievous boy had spent hours chasing fireflies when he should have been in bed. Finally, the energetic child had worn himself out and collapsed outside his home to sleep. His parents found him and tucked him into bed.

Now the sun was streaming through the windows, attempting to pry past Daxter's defenses. But Daxter was strong; nothing could defeat his desire for sleep.

A gentle hand shook him awake. "Daxter, Daxter honey, wake up." Except that.

The redhead's eyes blinked open, lured by the soft voice of his mother. "What?" he asked. "It's early."

Circe sat on the bed, a small smile on her face. "Only if you're a lazy sleepyhead!" Her fingers shot out, seeking the ticklish spots on her son's body.

The little boy shrieked and laughed, hands covering his sides to block her attacks. "Mom! Stop!" he gasped out between giggles.

Circe withdrew her assault and took to her feet. "Okay, but I want you down for breakfast in ten minutes."

Daxter's eyes lit up. When his mother made that sort of demand that meant that something special was going on. "What is it, Mom?" he asked.

"There's a boy in the village about your age that just moved in. We're going to go met him," Circe said.

"Wow, really?" Daxter launched himself out of bed. Sandover was a very small village and it had almost no children and children Daxter's age were even fewer. Although Daxter loved his parents, he really wanted a friend. Maybe this would be an opportunity to get one.

It had been a week since Samos had gone into the past with his small charge. He had been lucky in finding a suitable guardian for the boy Mar. A kind explorer who lived outside the Forbidden Jungle had been delighted in accepting the care of the mute child. Introducing the boy as Jak, Samos explained that he still wanted to tutor him but that he would be unable to actually raise the child. The explorer was fine with the arrangement, so Samos was satisfied that everything was well under control regarding the education of young Jak. The Green Sage would have plenty of time to listen to the trees and discern all the secrets of the ages without a child getting underfoot constantly.

Needless to say, the stowaway put a bit of a dent in those plans.

Arda's curious daughter had crawled into the Rift Rider undetected and fell asleep just before it had been sent back in time. Usually, Samos would have packed up the child and handed her over to her mother but now they were 500 years out of place for that. He had considered dumping the girl on someone else but something had made him pause. Although both young children, Mar and Keira had grown up very differently. Mar had been shuffled from guardian to guardian, never staying anywhere for too long. He had grown used to it and was fine as long as he felt he could trust the next caretaker. Keira, on the other hand, had never left her mother's care. To foist her off on a stranger would devastate the girl, at least she knew the Green Sage. He simply could not cast aside someone in need, even if they were small and needed constant attention. Besides, there was something in the way she smiled at all the trees and flowers and the way her eyes lit up when she was going to hear a new story. Or the way her tiny hands clasped together when trying to capture something that had caught her interest. . .

It had been difficult explaining to Keira why she could no longer see her mother. For the longest time she did not comprehend the situation, was unable to wrap her mind around it. But when it finally dawned on her, Keira's blue eyes had welled up with tears and she had wept with the loss. Samos held the girl throughout that first night, muttering the sweet nothings parents do and wiping away the wetness that dampened her cheek. The Green Sage hoped that with time and other distractions, the pain would lessen, or better yet, she would cease to remember Haven City all together. For now, he could only fulfill the role he had sought out, being a mentor to a young hero, and a role he had never imagined, being a father.

Today was Sunday and Samos had sent Keira to the Birdlady's that morning so he could prepare for his anticipated guests. The explorer, known to Jak as "Uncle," had invited a pair of academics he knew over to the Sage's. The couple had a child that was right around Jak's age. Uncle hoped that perhaps the boy would be a suitable companion for his mute "nephew." Samos, on the other hand, knew that this new boy was the same person who would be by Jak's side many years later in Haven City. Although his older counterpart had explained to him why Daxter had changed sex, the younger decided not to even think about it until the time came. It was much safer for his sanity.

To Samos' relief, the introductions went off without a hitch and now the two boys Jak and Daxter were doing what boys did best, running around and roughhousing. As agreed, Keira was returned that afternoon and now she sat on the sidelines, unsure how to approach other children. She had been the only child in the brothel and had not ventured far outside of it so this was all very new.

Samos and Daxter's parents, Thom and Circe, sat at a table partaking of some refreshments and keeping an eye on the three children. They were pleased that the boys were getting along and were wondering when Keira would step in. Samos sighed in contentment. Now that the hard part was out of the way, he felt free to indulge in his alternate agenda. The future safety of the world had been only one of two reasons why he had chosen to go into the past after all. He took a sip of tea and asked, "What is it that you do?"

Thom startled a moment, not used to small talk. "We're scholars," Thom answered.

Circe was better adapted to socializing than her husband. "Thom's specialty is Precursor Technology, I'm more of a folklorist."

The Green Sage felt his heart skip in anticipation. This was one of the most exciting moments of his life. Here were two of the most influential people of his time alive and in the flesh, talking to him. This was the sort of opportunity he had dreamed of as a child but never imagined to be a real possibility. "Fascinating," Samos said, a complete understatement. Now to formulate his next question, "Have you done any traveling?"

"Yes, that's actually how we met. Both of us were researching the Forbidden Jungle and stumbled across each other," Thom said. "We exchanged notes and found out we were looking for the same thing so we decided to team up."

"It was love at first write," Circe joked. "We've been together pretty much ever since." She squeezed her husband's hand.

"We went to different places writing and collecting data," Thom explained, a wistful expression on his face. "What can I say, we're information nuts."

"We haven't done much since Daxter was born," Circe admitted. She looked out to the field and smiled. Daxter and Jak were playing tag in the grass, having a grand old time.

"Priorities change when you have children," Thom said.

Samos followed Circe's gaze. Keira was standing behind a tree, just watching the two boys. Suddenly, she lunged out and whacked Jak on the shoulder. She shouted, "You're it!" Jak turned tail to follow her and Daxter laughed, glad the burden of being "it" was off his shoulders. The game had just increased to three players. Samos nodded. "Yes they do." He turned his attention backed to Thom and Circe. "Have you considered continuing your work?" he asked.

Thom and Circe exchanged glances. Their faces looked guilty as if even thinking about working was a crime. "Yes, but what about Daxter? We couldn't take him with us and we couldn't just leave him alone," Thom said. "Well, I do have a sister who could take him at night but during the day—"

"What if I took care of him?" Samos asked.

Circe shook her head, surprised at the offer. "Oh no, we could never impose upon you."

"It's not an imposition at all. I already watch Jak. Daxter could stay at your sister's house at night and come here during the day with Jak. I could teach him all about Eco and other matters."

"Eco? What do you know about Eco?" Thom asked with genuine curiosity.

"Quite a bit, I am a Green Eco Sage," Samos said, his chest puffing with pride.

"Fascinating. I've heard of other color Eco Sages but not one for green. This could be a rare opportunity to explore Eco Studies," Circe said.

"Eco Studies? I really haven't thought of it," Thom said.

"Neither have I."

Thom and Circe locked gazes; thoughts flowed and ebbed on their faces. It was as if they were sharing an epiphany without words. The old academic excitement was stirring in their brains, the call too tempting to resist. But there was guilt as well and uncertainty if what they were doing was right. Would Daxter be alright or would this drive a wedge between parent and child?

Samos was not only witnessing history in the making but acting as a participant as well. This was beyond his wildest dreams. To help the great Thom and Circe on their quest for knowledge; the knowledge that would become the culture cornerstone of an entire civilization and the sole solace for a young man who would learn to talk to the trees.

Despite their obvious excitement, Circe and Thom still had concerns. Circe struggled to articulate a rationale for leaving her son. "It would be good for Daxter to have a teacher and a playmate his own age and it would be wonderful to write again—"

"Yes," Thom said. "And we won't be gone long."

"We'll have to be back for his birthday," the mother insisted.

Thom smiled. "Of course."

"Then we're going?" Circe asked, a hint of trepidation in her voice.

Thom nodded, still not quite believing they were doing this. He turned to the Green Sage. "But we don't have any way to repay you."

Samos smiled. "All I ask is that I can see your work."

"Of course, you'll be the first one," Thom agreed.

"Then it's settled?" Samos asked, unable to keep the eagerness from his voice. Imagine, being the first to see The Archives as they were being written. Not to mention the honor of tutoring the authors' only child! "How long will it take you prepare?" he asked.

"Not long at all, we can probably leave next week," Thom said.

Circe laid a hand on her husband's shoulder. "First let's see if Daxter will be okay staying with Jak." She was as eager to go as Thom but she wouldn't sacrifice her son's happiness for her own selfish wishes.

Daxter dashed up to the table. "This place is great. Jak and Keira are awesome, can we stay here forever?" he asked.

The red-haired man glanced at his wife. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

Thom and Samos shook hands on it and that was that. Daxter's parents explained the situation to Daxter and the child was excited to spend so much time with his new friend. He didn't really understand what was happening until a week went by and his parents hadn't come back. Daxter had cried and cried despite both Uncle and Samos explaining that his parents would be back. Fortunately, the first of many letters arrived and that calmed the boy down. The letters themselves were simple, but it reassured Daxter that his mother and father hadn't abandoned him, that they still loved him and that they would be back.

A few months later his parents did return for a brief stay but they lavished so much attention on their child that Daxter felt like they hadn't really gone. He was sad to see them go again but felt all right knowing they would return.

That first year was rocky but a pattern was established that satisfied both parents and son. For most of the year, Thom and Circe would travel abroad collecting data while Daxter stayed with Jak or Samos. They communicated by letter, relating small day-to-day happenings and obligatory "I miss yous." The more exciting stories would wait until the winter, when Thom and Circe spent the entire season at home. Winter was too dangerous to travel and they wanted to have a solid block of time with their son to make up for the rest of the year. Even during the spring, summer and fall months, the two explorers would drop by home for a few days and catch up with Daxter. Thom and Circe made it a point to always be there for Daxter's birthday.

It was a small gesture but it meant the world to him. Even if his parents arrived late that night, they were always there for his special day. Although Daxter would miss his parents the rest of the year, the letters and days filled with play helped ease the pain. Besides, during the other three seasons Daxter would have ended up spending most of his time with Jak anyway. When he got older, Thom and Circe took Daxter along with them on a few of their trips. Although he enjoyed being with his folks, Daxter found the trips dull and spent most of the time missing Jak and Keira and longed to play with them.

One day, he told his parents this and they went back to the old routine. Everything worked out well even until that last summer.

After Daxter's transformation, she wrote to her parents to say that "he" was fine staying by himself and encouraged Thom and Circe to continue traveling. She never told them about the Dark Eco or its effects upon her body. She had expected to be normal by the time they returned and that they would never know about the "accident."

Little did she know that she would never see them again, that the last time she would say "Goodbye" and "I love you" were on Samos' porch that last day of spring. That her parents would have no idea where their little boy had disappeared to or that their little boy was now a grown woman.

As Daxter showed the picture of her parents to Tess, guilt and sadness squeezed her heart. She hadn't given her parents much attention in her mind since jumping through time with Jak. There had never been a good moment for it except for that fleeting thought back in Dead Town. What a lousy kid she'd turned out to be.

Tess's finger traced the features of the two figures in the photograph. She smiled. "They must have really been something, huh?" she asked.

Daxter nodded, sniffling to keep from crying. "Yeah, they really were."

* * *

The beginning of this chapter I have no idea where that came from. The original beginning had much angst but I felt like I was writing myself into a corner with no escape and no inspiration. And then this weirdness happened, go figure. Also, I decided to focus on Samos' view of the infamous "Jak meets Daxter" scene because I thought it was more interesting. It fleshes out Samos in a way I haven't done in other parts of the story. I apologize that this took forever but that's what happens when I'm busy. 


End file.
